One Moment, Please… CEOs have nothing on small business owners

I recently read an article about a CEO of a large corporate chain restaurant, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

He gave up his annual bonus plus base salary this year to pay his chain’s workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The total amount donated to employees from the CEO amounted to about $1 million.

This has been shared all over the national media.

Some people may think that this  is so noble, and it is to some degree.

But this is the norm for all of your local family-owned businesses.

Yes, all of them.

Every single family-owned business operates the same way.  The owners pay their employees, vendors, utilities, and mortgage before they pay themselves.  Otherwise they can’t stay in business.  Those are the rules of the game.

They don’t get paid unless there’s any money left over.

The business owners, understandably, have to take care of everyone before themselves.

But, that common story never gets the attention of the national media.  These small business owners just do their best to keep the ship calm and steady as they move forward.

They go month by month, sometimes without a paycheck, because they have to take care of everyone else before themselves.

And, what’s challenging is that what affects the finances of a business owner at their business will also eventually impact their personal finances.

Our local business owners may not get any notoriety like the CEO of a corporate restaurant chain, and they won’t ask for it.

They will just continue to strive to do their best to keep their business afloat and keep people gainfully employed.  And, hopefully that’s enough.