Business owners hire people because their business requires a particular skill or help. The decision may be based on replacing a person who left or seeking to grow. Whatever the reason, the business owner has decided hiring someone makes financial sense. After all, if it didn’t make financial sense the business owner would suffer the most and the survival of the business (and its employees) could be put at risk.
Government leaders these days speak as if business owners should hire for the betterment of the country. Is it patriotic to hire? Are businesses an extension of government and its policies? The words and actions from Washington DC, especially in the light of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), seem to put forth a belief that business owners should blindly go along with government policies as if there is not cause and effect. It goes like this: Raising taxes won’t reduce hiring. Raising the cost of benefits won’t reduce hiring. Increasing regulations won’t reduce hiring. Changing laws and regulations unpredictably and often won’t reduce hiring.
It is profoundly puzzling to me that our elected leaders, the best we have to offer as a country, do not understand how business works. If you increase cost or simply take money away from a business, then there is less money to hire, grow or otherwise take entrepreneurial risk with. Government will insist, with a straight face, the impact is minor. This is a point of view happy when there is no loss. It is not a point of view championing growth and all its possibilities. Our countries best and brightest are often entrepreneurs who will find a way to succeed despite government obstacles. However, the definition of success is dampened. At some level, for all of us, enough is enough whether based on achievement, money, et al. Increasing the burden placed on successful business owners brings this level, at which it doesn’t make sense to do more, downward.
Taxes, benefit costs and requirements, as well as regulation all increase as a business is more successful. Business owners who are not successful don’t experience as many burdens. If you fail; you don’t make a profit (less taxes) and you don’t grow (avoid ACA requirements). There are others who argue the government knows better. One key ingredient missing from their argument is business ownership on their resume.
Ryan Poterack is a business owner residing in Charlotte, NC.
