If you took most minimum wage employees and gave them an eight-hour introduction to the cost angle to the operation....I think most would stand there in shock. Most have no idea what the rent costs for the operation. No one could make a reasonable guess on utilities (pizza ovens run continually, thus sucking huge electrical costs). If you make deliveries, there’s some cost there. Toss in insurance and advertising. If you run some franchise operation, then you have eight to ten percent of your profit going out the door. Just two or three ‘bad’ deliveries a week could turn off potential customers and screw-up your long-term profit margin. For $15 to work...an average pizza would have to be at least 20-percent more than it is currently. Who the heck would pay $14 for a medium pizza?
Someone needs to do a fictional business introduction video of a little pizza shop and how this ‘cog’ fits into a business profile....surviving off marginal profits.
Long before the other costs of business came up the average minimum wage worker would be amazed at how much in SS contribution, liability, unemployment and workers comp the employer pays in the employees name.
I charge 15/hour for some computer work. I guess if I was in Seattle I could charge 45/hr. Seattle is beautiful, especially the houseboats on Lake Washington.
Public-school educated individuals, as well as liberal government leaders like those running Seattle, have a "Scrooge McDuck" understanding of business economics. They figure all profits are hoarded in a huge vault somewhere by greedy owners who refuse to "share". Ergo, a $15 minimum wage increase is no problem, and businesses that shut down are just doing it out of spite.
