Across the country millions of small business owners may be concerned about their bottom lines for a number of reasons, and as such the recent talk about raising the federal minimum wage could be a point of concern for some. However, a number of recent polls have suggested that the majority of these entrepreneurs actually support such an increase.
Today, 57 percent of small business owners say that they are in favor of slowly increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over the next two and a half years, from the current level of $7.25 per hour, according to a new survey from the special interest group Small Business Majority. This was especially true of business owners who work in the retail or restaurant industries, as 61 percent of those polled supported such a move.
Of course, it seems the reason that many of them support such a move is that the vast majority of small business owners already pay their employees more than the current minimum wage, the report said. In fact, 82 percent of those polled pay more than the current $7.25 per hour, while the remaining 18 percent do in fact pay that much.
Another the reason for the support?
In addition, though, 52 percent of the owners surveyed said that they thought raising the minimum wage being good for them because it would lead to more spending overall, the report said. In addition 35 percent say that this will help to make their businesses more competitive overall as it will not allow other companies in their fields to undercut them on employment costs. Further, it should also be noted that low-wage workers tend to spend money with small businesses specifically, meaning that if they get more money from their employers, the likelihood that it will then be spent at such companies goes up significantly.
Finally, there seems to have been a human element to the responses as well, the report said. Given that a full-time salary at minimum wage comes to less than $15,100 before taxes, 54 percent of owners say that this amount isn’t enough to live on.
Owners worried about what will happen to their finances when the minimum wage starts going up may want to consider the ways in which they can reduce expenses and give themselves some more wiggle room. For instance, finding more affordable small business insurance, like policies for commercial insurance, can end up savings thousands per year.
