When working as an external consultant within client companies, I sometimes overhear employees expressing typical salaried worker grievances.
“You know, my customers are paying XX dollars for my services, but how much is my company skimming off the top?”
“Does that HR manager even work? Feels like he is just stealing his salary.”
Indeed, issues like wage suppression are societal problems, but that’s not the focus of our discussion today. Nor am I suggesting (at least not today) that you should stop letting your company take advantage of you and strike out on your own.
Rather, it could be said that those who simply think along the lines of these complaints likely lack the business and management knowledge needed for entrepreneurship.
Today, I’d like you to consider what exactly you’re being paid for by your company.
Those who are independent or run their own business might find the upcoming points more intuitive.
Conversely, those with a salaried worker mindset might feel a bit uncomfortable with today’s topic. But please, keep an open mind.
What is your company paying you for? It’s paying for “your assets.”
By assets, I mean your skills, experience, or perhaps even your network.
Now, let’s flip the script: What are you paying the company for?
“Paying the company?” What does that mean?
The company utilizes your assets (skills, experience, etc.) to generate profits within its system. Meanwhile, you are essentially “renting” part of this system to earn your income. This concept might be a bit tricky to grasp.
To better illustrate this point, let’s consider a passage from a course I developed three years ago “The Business Design Course for Idea-Driven Entrepreneurs, which delves into the economic dynamics at play:
— Quote —
Working as an employee in any company is essentially an act of “renting out” the company’s business system.
In other words, you’re earning money by taking advantage of a business system someone else has built.
Let’s delve deeper.
Like many people, you’d find it challenging to convert your abilities into cash on your own.
That is, selling your skills or labor directly as a business is difficult.
Hence, you operate within an already established company’s system, converting your abilities or labor into value, and in return, you receive money as compensation.
Have you ever thought of it this way?
In other words, you’re renting out a part of the business system of your employer or part-time job to make money.
(Of course, this is speaking purely from an economic standpoint. Let’s set aside ethical discussions such as exploitation within companies for now.）
This is no different, in essence, from a business owner joining a franchise, using an already established system for commerce.
Whether you’re a salesperson, an operator, a designer, or whatever, it’s difficult to make your offerings directly marketable as a business on your own.
So, you’re borrowing a part of someone’s business system, and after deducting the cost of using that system, you’re paid a salary.
If you were capable of running a business solely with what you offer, you’d be able to operate independently.
— End of quote —
Let’s reconsider the employee grievances mentioned at the beginning.
“My customers are paying me XX dollars, but how much is my company taking off the top?”
If you were to start your own business, consider how much money, effort, and time you’d need to spend on attracting customers, accumulating know-how, setting up IT systems, etc., not to mention the risks involved.
Without understanding this, simply thinking the company is exploiting you reflects a lack of business mindset.
This mindset keeps you dependent on an organization as a salaried worker forever.
“That HR manager hardly works, yet he’s stealing his salary.”
In the specific case of this HR manager that I’ve heard complaints about, his asset is their overwhelming network.
Normally, companies that struggle to attract quality talent benefit from his connections, bringing in many excellent employees.
The company is paying for his “network” of assets, not his hours worked.
Even if he seems to be idly passing time in the office, if his presence indirectly attracts capable employees, that justifies his salary.
Judging him solely based on his apparent lack of work in the office is lacking in business mindset.
Thinking that value lies in working late and toiling away daily is a typical salaried worker’s mindset.
What about you? Do you have a business mindset?
For those who’ve only been able to think like a salaried worker, this discussion might be hard to swallow.
Not just viewing work from the perspective of someone employed within a business system but having a multidimensional view, including that of building a business system, is vital for those involved in innovative projects and competing based on personal skills — those who are street-smart.
How will shifting your mindset from a salaried worker to that of an entrepreneur change how you approach your work tomorrow?
Reflect on today’s discussion once more and embrace a new perspective!
Watch the Youtube video version of this blog post for additional insights!
