Fully fund IRAs?
On 1/28/24 5:18 PM, Chuck McCown via AF wrote:
Thanks Ken,
No stock options. I am slowly giving the company to a couple sons
that are putting in the sweat equity. Still not sure about production
based bonuses. Should everyone get the same amount?
*From:* Ken Hohhof
*Sent:* Sunday, January 28, 2024 1:11 PM
*To:* 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group'
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] compensation for employees
I worked for big companies in the 80’s and remember profit sharing and
Christmas bonuses. Then we had a period of startups with stock options
as a huge part of compensation – the idea was you worked 80 hour weeks
for modest pay but if the company hit it big your options could be
worth a lot. I suspect some people hit the jackpot and a lot more got
the shaft.
My sense is that employees today are mostly focused on the short
term. They have bills to pay, they want to know what income they can
count on, they probably don’t want to roll the dice on profit sharing
or a bonus or stock options. Also, Millennials and Gen XYZ I talk to
seem to view employment as transactional, and they don’t necessarily
identify with the company or the owners (thanks to companies like
Amazon and owners like Bezos).
So while I don’t have any hard facts, my guess is you’re doing the
right thing already. If you’re inclined to tie compensation to
company performance, I wouldn’t make it a large percentage, and I
wouldn’t try to use it as an incentive for people to work insane hours
or achieve impossible goals (like Elon Musk’s “extremely hardcore”).
And I’d make it fairly short term, like monthly or something, so
employees aren’t making their families scrimp in hopes of a windfall
at the end of the quarter or year.
If you do experience hard times, reduced hours might be a temporary
solution at least for hourly employees. Realizing that with low
unemployment, some of them might move elsewhere.
The good news is that any part of your business tied to fiber projects
is likely to have at least 5 good years coming.
*From:* AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> *On Behalf Of *Chuck McCown via AF
*Sent:* Sunday, January 28, 2024 12:16 PM
*To:* af@af.afmug.com
*Cc:* ch...@go-mtc.com
*Subject:* [AFMUG] compensation for employees
My latest pivot a couple of years ago to microtrenching blades, adding
grout machines, then microtrenching saw attachments and now to a
specialized type of vacuum excavator has gone extremely well. Almost
no software involved. Just a little in a motion control PCB in the
grout machine to control the hydrostatic transmission. This is by far
my most profitable season I have ever had in 50 years of running some
kind of hustle. And those years of the stinger and other related
antennas and hardware were not bad at all. I am a bit more confident
that these new “durable products” have more legs than the antennas
that were radio specific.
But having been through wax and wane of business, economy and product
cycles for many decades, I am always reticent to ratchet up pay. I do
give bonuses. I will always live in fear of not meeting payroll. Only
happened once about 30 years ago, but that is a bad deal. And
actually nobody was unpaid but I had to layoff everyone. But I digress.
What would y’all suggest as a way to reward employees when things are
going well? I give COLA plus modest merit increases every 6 months.
I could give substantial merit increases but that plays into my phobia
of things getting tight again. Maybe that is totally unfounded. I
know when things started going well for Henry Ford he doubled pay and
things got even better for him.
I would like to do bonuses based on my bottom line income (I think),
but how to distribute that evenly? Should everyone get the same
amount? And how to relate that the size of the bonus is tied directly
to how well the company is doing? Or should I just give really nice
raises this go around? Or both? I guess if things slow down we can
always trim staff or let attrition do it for us. I think you all can
understand the reluctance to give raises as it is a one way street.
You really cannot cut pay.
I want employees to prosper and do better personally. I wonder if my
fears are justified. I know some of you have worked for large
companies at certain points in your life, how did they accomplish
this. I know some of you have really prospered with your WISP/ISP,
curious how you approached the whole sharing the wealth thing.
Chuck McCown
McCown Technology Corporation
8401 N Commerce Dr
Lake Point, Utah 84074
801-250-9503
435-830-4306 cell
www.mccowntech.com <http://www.mccowntech.com>
www.microtrench-blades.com <http://www.microtrench-blades.com>
www.terabitnetworks.com <http://www.terabitnetworks.com>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
AF mailing list
AF@af.afmug.com
http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
--
AF mailing list
AF@af.afmug.com
http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
