- by Mini Jacques

I've had several employers tell me that it's going to be a hardship to pay their employees the new wage. As a marketing professional who has clients who are small business owners I tell my clients they should consider two options : 1) take one month and live on the wage that they are paying their employees currently and see if that was a living wage 2) take a real hard look at their business and their bottom line. My comment to them as a marketing person was - if the increase is going to hurt your business it's not the wage increase that's hurting your business. if you can't afford the increase then it's most likely a lack of what the customer is wanting to purchase and not finding in  your store which is resulting in poor sales. Or limited hours of operation – customer service maybe poor – or a combination of all of the above.

This may be a time to take a really good look at the stock you are offering, and to ask your customers what you could do better to have them come into your store on a more frequent basis. This is an opportunity and a challenge not a problem.

I applaud Delores Sullivan of Sisters on Huron for her approach to the pay raise and how she's treating her retail staff regarding wages and what they're worth. Just another reason why she's still in business after 15 years... I'm sure there are some other businesses around here that would like to be able to stay open for 15 years. Follow this business owner's example and I'm sure that will happen - well said Delores.