In small business, the business is the employees, the people who do the actual work, including owners.
It is a business expense (comes off the top) to pay the employees.
Short term compensation does nothing for retention.
The less turnover, the more profitable the business, almost without exception.
If a business loses a key employee, for instance: the owner-manager, due to either sickness or turnover, the business can fail quickly.
If a business shares long term benefits, even profits, with these key employees, the employees become owners in their minds, and the business thrives.
You cannot build an effective team by way of nepotism and top down management.
By making your employees feel valued and important, and by providing a clear path for them to advance their own dreams, you can build a business that lives forever.
Business fail for all the reasons above, or limp along.
I built a huge business, my life’s work, and walked away with nothing but an education; that is the way the employees feel.
It can be avoided.