If you want roaring success, you can’t afford to think and act like your peers. And entrepreneur Dan Price proved that. Having raised his employees’ minimum wage to 70k dollars 6 years ago after cutting his own CEO pay by a million dollars, Dan’s now reaping the rewards, both in terms of finances, worker job (and life!) satisfaction, and loyalty.
An experiment that many said would fail now has some critics considering that Dan’s approach may have merit. “Always invest in people,” Dan highlighted in his recent post on Twitter and I fully support this approach. However, it makes sense not just on an ethical level but on a financial one, too.
Have a read through the entrepreneur’s summary of how the decision to massively increase his employees’ wages impacted the company overall and what it was like 6 years ago to weather the storm of criticism with media skeptics like Fox News at the forefront.
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Dan Price, the CEO of Gravity Payments, celebrated 6 years of having cut his own pay by a million dollars to increase his employees’ wages
Image credits: danpriceseattle
Dan tweeted out a video where he shows just how wrong his critics, including Fox News, were
6 years ago today I raised my company’s min wage to $70k. Fox News called me a socialist whose employees would be on bread lines.
Since then our revenue tripled, we’re a Harvard Business School case study & our employees had a 10x boom in homes bought.
Always invest in people. pic.twitter.com/o7Ca7I4b7e
— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) April 13, 2021
Here’s exactly how the decision to increase his employees’ pay impacted the company 6 years down the line
Image credits: DanPriceSeattle
Image credits: DanPriceSeattle
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Image credits: DanPriceSeattle
Image credits: DanPriceSeattle
Image credits: DanPriceSeattle
Image credits: DanPriceSeattle
One of the most eye-opening impacts the change Dan drove forward had was how they faced the Covid-19 pandemic. “At the start of the pandemic, we lost 55% of our revenue overnight. Our employees were so invested they volunteered to take temporary pay cuts to prevent any layoffs. We weathered the storm, paid everyone back, and are now giving out raises,” Dan writes.
In other words, his investment in his employees’ quality of life made sure that ‘Gravity Payments’ was kept afloat in difficult times. Trust begets trust, loyalty begets more loyalty.
Dan listed how besides their revenue tripling, they also increased the number of employees who, as it turns out, now had enough financial stability to start having children, paying off debt, and buying homes.
What’s more, the gap between the highest and lowest-earning employees shrunk massively. Dan admitted that he was “an awful CEO” before, but now he’s inspiring other businesses to follow in his footsteps. However, Dan pointed out that it’s mostly small businesses that do this while large corporations aren’t biting (yet).
More money might not change much when you’re already well-off, but it has a huge impact when you’re forced to work a second job just to make ends meet. Or, as Dan put it, “Money buys happiness when it gets you out of poverty but not when it gets you from well-off to very well-off.” He added that he doesn’t miss the millionaire lifestyle and doesn’t regret having cut his pay by such a huge amount.
Some people were curious to find out how Dan’s lifestyle changed
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Dan believes that what he did made a lot of business owners uncomfortable
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Meanwhile, others were interested to find out what businesses, if any, have followed in his footsteps
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The entrepreneur revealed that some employees weren’t happy with the changes and left, however, things still turned out well
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Some Twitter users pointed out that what Dan’s been doing is a great example of doing business well
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Others shared that businesses don’t have to copy Dan’s decisions perfectly, but should instead aim to follow the spirit of the changes he made
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And here’s how some other people have been reacting to Dan’s recent Twitter post
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What do you think of the changes that entrepreneur Dan made to his company? Do you think the results speak for themselves? Do you think your quality of life would improve much if your wage was increased to at least 70k dollars per year? Share your thoughts below. Oh, and you’ll find Bored Panda’s recent articles about Dan’s views on businesses and the economy right over here, right here, and here.
The post CEO Who Was Criticized By Fox News For Cutting His Salary In Order To Have A K Minimum Wage For His Employees Celebrates His Success first appeared on Bored Panda.
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