Opinion: Paying a Living Wage

This is the third of three articles in an opinion series submitted by Dan Hensley.

Here we are again, and this time you are going to do a backflip from rolling your eyes so hard at what I am about to say.

Pay a living wage.

I know. I know. Bring out all the reasons why you can’t. I bet some of you are even taking a pay cut to make payroll, and some of you aren’t even getting a paycheck. What shiny crystal castle am I perched upon that gives me the staggering irrational reason to even state this?

• How many mechanics move on from the industry to make more money?
• How many work at a shop for a year or two only to go to another for a dollar or two raise?
• How many scan BRAIN’s classified ads daily looking for the rep gig that will allow them to have clean fingernails?
• Which one of your employees has a career path in your business?
• How many have a significant other that covers health insurance and half the bills?

I could go on, but I only have a thousand words to get my point across.

You can pay a living wage by paying an hourly wage plus commission. Yes, I have my own formula that works, but there are a million ways to skin a cat – so to speak.

The sales person that walks and talks a big game and backs it up with sales numbers that reflect their drive and passion, pay them for their dedication. The mechanic that turns and burns and never has a bike come back, pay them for their commitment. The hourly rate shops are charging is close to and even sometimes equal to what motorcycle and auto shops charge, and those mechanics aren’t settling for $20 an hour.

So how do they do it while you can’t?

How do they run their business? With sales, what kind of training do they offer?

• How educated are the staff on the latest and greatest, as well as older antiquated products?
• Does the sales staff understand how to ask for a sale?
• How do you measure each mechanic’s success in generating profit?
• Do you have a clear and defined service process with pricing and time stamps, or do you just kinda guess?
• What is the consistency of the service product you provide your customers?
  • And by consistency I mean, if you do the tune up, or another mechanic does the tune up, if you compare the finished work did both jobs meet the same criteria?

All these things are what the big guys look at and think about, and they will steal your employees because they will pay the same menial wage but add health insurance and a little PTO, because when you are working for pennies, an extra nickel goes a long way.

I am certain at this point if you are still reading this, it sounds like all pie in the sky fodder for silly dreams and ideas; but it isn’t.

The big difference is in the future you lay out to your team and how attainable it is.

You have the power to change the industry, because you are the boots on the ground, because you’re small and dynamic, because you have the ability to connect intimately with your community. It takes risks on everyone’s part, not just yours. This is what I suggest, and I know it works because I have been successful doing this – and not just for bicycle shops.

• Look at your sales numbers and make one year and five year projections, then share them with your staff (if you aren’t already doing this).
• Lay out a plan to increase your sales through marketing and providing the best service possible.
  • Ask your team to help you, do not do this alone.
  • And if you aren’t comfortable asking your team for help then you don’t have the right team.
• Ask each person to write down their five year personal goals, and you do it too.
  • Allow everyone to read and ensure they understand your plan and everyone’s goals, and then open the conversation up for them to add to and subtract from your plan.
  • Make the necessary changes in order to help everyone meet their goals, including pay increases through profit sharing or commission.
  • Print out everyone’s goals along with the long term goal of the business and put it on the wall somewhere that is seen constantly by everyone.
• Whenever a decision needs to be made, make sure it moves the business in the direction of both your and your team’s goals.
• Every six months re-evaluate what you are doing and steer back toward the goals if you have strayed.

This is how you grow into the dream you had when you first started this whole thing. Big changes are coming and nothing is going to stop them. Unless we join together for the betterment of everyone, we will struggle individually for the foreseeable future.
Find Dan at:
Westside Joe’s Bikes
4319 Piedmont Ave.
Oakland CA