Letter from your Boss - interesting read

[blueoval]

I received this as an email today. Its an interesting look from a Boss' point of view.

Originally Posted by A Boss Who Tells It Like It Is

Date: Sat, 03 Jan 2009


To All My Valued Employees,


There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this
company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has
changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news
is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten
your job; however, is the changing political landscape in this country.


However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you
decide what is in your best interests.


First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against
employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a
back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you
see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Subaru Outback outside. You've seen
my big home at last year's Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons
of luxury conjure up some idealised thoughts about my life.


However, what you don't see is the back story.


I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 2 bedroom
flat for 3 years. My entire living area was converted into an office so I
could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would
eventually employ you.


My diet consisted of baked beans, stew and soup because every dollar I spent
went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a wonky
transmission. I didn't have time to go out with women. Often times, I stayed
home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact,
I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.


Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a
modest $50,000 a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy
cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead
of hitting the David Jones for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling
through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look
like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and
lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my
life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be
able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.


So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at
about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me.
When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to
yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this
company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend.
There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a
1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that
garden -- the nice house, the Subaru, the vacations... you never realise the
back story and the sacrifices I've made.


Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right
decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn't.
The people that overspent their pay suddenly feel entitled to the same
luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.


Yes, business ownership has its benefits but the price I've paid is steep
and not without wounds.


Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is
starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you
why:


I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I
have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes.
Payroll taxes. Workers compensation. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I
have to hire a accountant to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I
have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and
all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct
15th, I wrote a cheque to the Australian tax Office for $288,000 for
quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" cheque was? Zero. Zip. Zilch.


The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who
has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per
year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home
pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare cheque?
Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this
country.


The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your pay you'd quit and you
wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get
rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is
in jeopardy.




Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you
need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had the government suddenly
mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of
depositing that $288,000 into the Canberra black-hole, I would have spent
it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My
employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of
promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.




When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate
and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or,
do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of Australia and
always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. But the
power brokers in Canberra believe the poor of Australia are the essential
drivers of the Australian economic engine. Nothing could be further from the
truth and this is the type of change you can keep.


So where am I going with all this?

It's quite simple.


If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift
and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the
government to pay for your mortgage, your 4WD and your child's future.
Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.


Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire.
You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalises the productive and
gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be
destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.


So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will
be at the hands of a politicians that swept through this country changed its
financial landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a
beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about....


Signed,

Your boss

Comments?

PS. Mods please delete/lock this thread if its a repost

[MITCHAY]

Very good read

[GT0132]

Great and a lot of truth in it

[2002xr6]

spot on

[PALE ALE]

I would say youre boss has just realised, that after all that sacrifice and work over the years is going to come to nothing, because of the economic slow down

[BLDNUT01]

i hope he sent it to the government too

[Lynch'd]

Couldn't agree more! God help us (the pollies clearly wont) when we really start to see the effects of this over the next 5 years.

[xbcool]

great read

[Sam_Boss260]

How true that is......

Good read.

[Tribal]

Great post - I've sent it to my boss

[Fev]

Great read, thanks for posting

[Force6]

A Subaru? Bourgeois scum! How very opulent.

Edit: But without taxes, where would else could he parade his golden chariot in clear sight of the drooling plebs?

[ebxr8240]

Agree but when people stop spending . Everyone suffers..
It takes all sorts to make the word go around..
If everyone was a tightass ?? There would be little money made..
BTW to a point I'm one of them !! According to my family .. Lol..

[Mr Hardware]

I don't agree.
If the business can't make a profit after ALL expenses (inc tax and wages) then there's no point to the business.
The story is very emotional and not very factual. This is why 99% of people are employees, they're not mad enough to think being an employer is a good thing.

I don't see that tax on businesses has changed very significantly at all over the past 5, 10 or even 20 years.

If your business can only survive the good times and not the bad, then it's not a viable business and the govt should not be blamed.

[BLOWNF6UTE]

Couldnt have said it better myself.

[BLOWNF6UTE]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

I don't agree.
If the business can't make a profit after ALL expenses (inc tax and wages) then there's no point to the business.
The story is very emotional and not very factual. This is why 99% of people are employees, they're not mad enough to think being an employer is a good thing.

I don't see that tax on businesses has changed very significantly at all over the past 5, 10 or even 20 years.

If your business can only survive the good times and not the bad, then it's not a viable business and the govt should not be blamed.

You have to be kidding me dont you. It's becoming increasingly harder to run a business and make money once all the company tax, payroll tax & personal tax, super & the likes are paid. Why should i have to pay more tax because i got off myass work 90+ hours a week and have people working for me while the next sod sits there and bears out his 38 hour week and pays the bear minimum.

[SM1DY]

The boss that wrote that letter sounds like my father. Always on the go, always thinking about whats next, always tied to his business. Though things have always been like this for small businesses, I don't see why they have to make it harder than it already is?

[bafel]

Sounds like the kitchen just got too hot for someone

[MITCHAY]

The point was that it may all seem like a glamorous life being the boss but more often than not there is a lot of sacrifice behind the scenes and the employees seem to think that the boss can pluck money off a magical money tree.

It's coming from the point of view that bosses don't do anything and have it easy which is completely untrue, again more often than not.

People very rarely fall into high paying jobs and at the end of the day the responsibility falls on them.

[73gscoupe]

Its a very carefully designed emotional piece to get a specific response.

It also uses extreme and very specific examples. Think Kerry Packer was eating baked beans and driving a rusty toyota corolla when he started out?

Think the guy earning 50K and doing 38 hours a week was living it up big time when he was doing uni or his apprenticeship? I dont think so.

Im sorry, but i just dont see that Buisnesses need tax cuts. Mind you I also disagee with the government giving money away to the general populus which will probably just blow it on useless consumer crap.

If the government really wanted to stimulate the economy they would pour the money into infastructure and capital projects. Its a tried and proven method.

[scradley_6666]

Im buying some defillipo headers and an x-forcee exhaust with my $900 plus obviously my own money. Im stimulating myself with these mods... Who wants my $900 government money and the rest of my 38 hour pay???

On a more serious note (im still buying that stuff), my boss works hard and i dont even like him. But i respect him coz if he didnt do such long hours and and work so hard, he surley would of cut my pay. But he works hard to make him more money too...

[CAMS290]

Great Read

[Stattic]

i enjoyed reading this piece and also some of your responses but i would like to make the point that the previous government handout AND the one some are about to receive are not going to be effective because
1. people are struggling and will use it to pay their mortgage (interest rates have fallen but its too late for it to make a real difference, people are far enough behind already)
2. people are struggling and will use it for petrol, which we are paying too much for, which the government does nothing about
3. people are struggling and choose to buy foreign, cheaper products instead of australian made and/or owned; if people chose such products, the stimulus package would start to take effect

if the above are all true (particularly number 3), then this "boss" is correct. australian businesses DO need to be supported.
1. less taxes means they get to take more home and dont have to put their prices up so high as this makes their goods even less accessible to australians compared to cheaper foreign counterparts

2. tariffs need to rise, not fall on foreign goods. im sure everyone is in the know about the car industry crisis are a few obvious things annoy me about it and obviously they will to you. why is it i can buy a hyundai getz far cheaper than i can a focus or festiva or a barina or an astra? i dont think this is right... or maybe the government is the clever one and wishes for us to have crappy cars on the roads so that our mechanics have more work repairing breakdowns? not likely.

3. the government needs to do far more for small businesses, the work is drying up because of the current climate but its not just the trade owners that are suffering, its the apprentices. apprentices are being layed off, young adults fresh out of school cant find apprenticeships, this is australia's future we are playing with. sure, they can go work in retail for a few years and be qualified for what??? they can work at coles or kfc but where will they be in 10 years? 5 years??? yes, it is possible to survive on unskilled labour and yes, it is possible to do quite well, but not for everyone. those people are going to be in the same position as people are now, no money for spending and then we are stuck in exactly the same position we are in now.

the government stimulus package ****es me the hell off but i will be thankful for my $900 when i receive it. its going to stay in the bank and be saved for a rainy day because i cant afford to be throwing money around

[paule11]

Its a worldwide problem and it may get far worse across the world

[BlackLS]

Originally Posted by Stattic

2. tariffs need to rise, not fall on foreign goods. im sure everyone is in the know about the car industry crisis are a few obvious things annoy me about it and obviously they will to you. why is it i can buy a hyundai getz far cheaper than i can a focus or festiva or a barina or an astra? i dont think this is right...

Your an idiot. The Festiva WAS made in the same country as the Getz but hasn't been sold for a good 8 or so years. Other 3 cars are also built overseas so if the tarrifs were increased the prices of Focus etc would be included.

[Stattic]

ok so the post did go through, can a mod delete this one?

[Stattic]

i swear to god i just replied to that post maybe i forgot to click post....
anyways i said yes, you are right, i chose a bad example without really thinking about it but the point still stands in general, im talking about australian products vs foreign products overall
and no im not an idiot =) just misinformed

[Barry_v]

start the violin music, the boss is hard done by.

[Charliewool]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

I don't agree.
If the business can't make a profit after ALL expenses (inc tax and wages) then there's no point to the business.
The story is very emotional and not very factual. This is why 99% of people are employees, they're not mad enough to think being an employer is a good thing.

I don't see that tax on businesses has changed very significantly at all over the past 5, 10 or even 20 years.

If your business can only survive the good times and not the bad, then it's not a viable business and the govt should not be blamed.

Have NO IDEA, do you sonny?
"Very emotional" My oath, running a business certainly IS emotional!
"Not very factual"... How the hell would YOU KNOW?

There's more to owning & operating a business then just bloody profits!
There's a tiny little thing called "RESPONSIBILITY"..
Responsibility to your employees that they have a stable, sustainable paying position.
These employees, who ARE your bread & butter, also have commitments such as mortgages, school fees, rates, utility bills, car running costs, etc, etc.
You have NO IDEA how tough it can be ensuring this continuity and stability is to keep merrily rolling along! (ESPECIALLY nowadays)

And I certainly DO believe the Government needs to take some blame here!
They've completely turned their back on the manufacturing industry in Australia, along with decades and decades of skills.
These will be lost forever. As will industry as we know it!
Australia... "The world's biggest warehouse"!!

[SB076]

Originally Posted by charliewool

And I certainly DO believe the Government needs to take some blame here!
They've completely turned their back on the manufacturing industry in Australia, along with decades and decades of skills.
These will be lost forever. As will industry as we know it!
Australia... "The world's biggest warehouse"!!

I agree, the government both past and present have done nothing but increase the burden on the manufacturing industry and still expects it to compete with overseas manufacturers.