71
How do I make my business legally worker-owned?
(hexbear.net)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2024
71 points (96.1% liked)
askchapo
22766 readers
186 users here now
Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.
Rules:
-
Posts must ask a question.
-
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
-
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
-
Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
Calculate a wage high enough so the business operates at a break-even point
Pay isn't ownership but if you want to be sure that people are property paid then a profit sharing bonus is much better than simply calculating a wage increase because profit sharing accounts for the yearly variance in business performance.
Wages are much harder to adjust in most places and can't be pinned to a variable factor like business performance.
that's the opposite of the advice OP is asking about
Death to America
But it avoids buerocratic hassle
Not everyone wants to deal with the bullshit associated with ownership. Owning a business is not the same as doing the labour that makes the business money - there's a bunch of other crap like dealing with taxes, licensing, insurance, marketing, and liability. It's great that OP is willing to offer an ownership stake but not everyone wants it. In one small business I'm aware of, I know an offer like this was made and the person/employee declined because they didn't want all the additional stress of work required for the business to legally exist and function and instead wanted to stay on the tools so to speak. They found it was better for their health/mental health limitations. Now that person is well paid and has a senior role, but isn't an owner.
There is a non trivial amount of labor that goes along with owning a business that is necessary for a business to function. It is not so much labour that small business tyrants should be exploiting labour like they do, but it is work and it is almost always different in nature than the type of work that the business does that actually makes revenue. Paying someone super well and respecting their opinion for decision making purposes without an ownership stake is a respectful option for OP.
ok but presumably OP thought about all this before asking "how do i make my business worker owned". otherwise they'd be asking "should i make my business worker owned", which is a completely different question
Death to America