Slippery Rock Gazette

The next time a client asks you how much their kitchen will cost in Blue Bahia, tell them it’s about the same as the Uba Tuba you quoted them, then watch how they react when they get the bill.

When they realize that Blue Bahia is oh, about 10 times as expensive as Uba Tuba, perhaps they’ll be shocked, incredulous, and maybe even angry.

Then again if they think like the President, who refers to “millionaires and billionaires” in the same breath the way we might refer to Santa Cecilia and Tropical Brown, they may simply write you a check and be on their way.

But hopefully they’d stop and think for a moment, then demand an explanation for your suggestion that a $5,000 slab is “about the same” as a $500 slab.

Well, hopefully America is going to start demanding an explanation from our Nation’s CEO for suggesting that millionaires and billionaires are about the same; that anyone making $250,000 a year is a millionaire not paying their “fair share,” and that successful entrepreneurs should be ashamed of their achievements!

On second thought, why bother with demanding an explanation for the inexplicable and indefensible.

Instead, let’s educate and inform those whom we can influence most, our employees, so this November we can replace the current regime with leadership that understands and honors the contribution that wealthy investors and small business owners bring to our economy and country.

In essence, we have to assume a new title and a new role…CEEO – Chief Economic Education Officers for our employees, and we should begin by deconstructing these three myths perpetrated by our President and repeated by the media:

Myth #1:

“Millionaires and Billionaires” – Think about it… a billion is 1,000 times larger than a million! So to group them together as if there is no difference is utterly deceitful. Second, the last time I checked, millionaires and billionaires have expensive tastes and like to buy things like say…granite counter tops! They also like to invest in things called start-ups and small businesses, which by the way create about 75% of the new jobs in our economy. Employees should be thankful for their millionaire customers and investors.

Myth #2:

“A $250,000 income equals millionaire status and the need to pay a fair share.” Most small businesses are “S”-corps, meaning the take home pay of the owner and the business’s profits are combined and called “taxable income” by the IRS. Employees need to understand this distinction because an owner might only take home $80,000 while his company has a $170,000 profit. Of the $170,000 “profit,” all of it could be tied up in inventory, accounts receivable, and taxes. Not in the owner’s personal bank account. Employees need to understand that every time taxes are raised on their employers “profits,” it’s money that can’t go to them in the form of benefits and higher pay.

Myth #3:

“Successful entrepreneurs should be ashamed of their success.” Hogwash! First, successful entrepreneurs are models for their employees of what is possible in America. That hard work, sacrifice, and integrity are the great equalizer in our free market. Second, successful entrepreneurs have successful businesses and that translates into opportunities for the employees. Do opportunities exist in unsuccessful companies? Ya, didn’t think so.

For the last few years, our country has been governed by people who have never spent a day in the private sector. They believe these myths as gospel and as a result, employers like you and me are suffering, as are our employees.

It is up to us to do something about it.

And if your employees are like mine, they are starving for truth and for someone they trust to teach them the basics of business economics.

That person is you (and me), the most influential and knowledgeable person they may know.

When you think about it, that makes us the most influential people in the country.

Now let’s put that influence to good use!

Aaron J. Crowley is the founder and president of FabricatorsFriend.com, the exclusive promoter of Stone Sleeve fabricator sleeves and Bullet Proof aprons. He is also the author of Less Chaos More Cash. You can reach him by email at Aaron@CrowleysGranite.com