Guess Who Can Solve Inflation?

My Dear Friends,

I say this with complete humility. I say with all gentleness and kindness. I say this with an understanding of how business works.

If you own a business, you have the power to stop inflation. But But But....you may say, I only control a very small tiny part of the market. But yes, you can exercise restraint when and how you raise prices in that tiny but VERY IMPORTANT corner of your world.

If everyone lives with an unrelenting competitive spirit and raises prices as high as the market will bear, we will never stop the run-away train of inflation. Greed does not have any morals. Greed will steal food from a child. Greed will steal homes from the elderly. Greed will not have mercy.

If you are blessed to have a position of authority in your company, you can make a modest choice the next time you need to decide upon your next price increase. I am not suggesting that you run your company into a deficit. I would still encourage you to always protect the profitability of your business and the success of your workforce. 

 I am merely suggesting that just because people might be willing to pay ANY price you charge for your product or services, doesn't mean you SHOULD charge  the HIGHEST possible price.

Consider charging a reasonable price. Consider charging a price that you know a struggling single mother could afford. Consider charging a price that your elderly disabled grandparent could afford. Consider a price that would help in a very small way, for that grandparent to be able to afford to stay in his home instead of having to live in a retirement home.

Consider charging a price that will let you sleep at night, knowing that you are not gouging your neighbor.

Consider charging a price that you know pleases your God.

And no, you might not win a Nobel peace prize.  You may think that no one will notice your restraint and compassion in your pricing strategy. But know that these things, although often very quiet and seemingly invisible, are very much noticed. Your competitors will notice and your customers will notice. You will have slowed down that freight train. It is not longer a run-away train. It has become a slow moving tourist train with happy passengers.

Peace,

Carla

Tweet

Let the Flora Flourish

Let the flora flourish in your life.

This time of year, especially in Ontario,Canada.... folks get yearning for the warm and sunny summer days and they try to think of anything that will remind them of the best summer days.

Consider growing or rooting some brightly colored plants around your home.  You may need to buy a cheap grow light to help get your cuttings some vital lighting. There is nothing more beautiful and welcoming than some houseplants bursting with color and vibrancy. You don't need to spend a lot of money to bring a little plant life into your home. Try to use pots with drainage, healthy potting soil and a plastic or clay guard to protect your table top from any excess water that escapes the pots.

What do you do in the winter to keep your spirits up?

Tweet

Carrying A Tiny Home on Minimum Wage in Canada

Photo by Hama Haki on Unsplash

If the politicians are listening....this is my wish for my country.

Canada, specifically Ontario, which is my province in Canada, has had BIG raises to it´s minimum wages over the past several years.

The current minimum wage in Ontario for an adult is 

$16.55 per hour.

Based on a 40 hour work week that would bring in $662 gross income per week before taxes and other deductions are taken off. Based on a 4 week month, that would total $2648 per month gross income.

If the politicians and social service networks want to make Ontario a livable region for all income levels in the coming years, then they need to address the viability of tiny homes. Tiny homes are the only possibility to relieve the severe financial stress that many low income folks are experiencing just from trying to keep a roof over their heads. 

Ontario has a large portion of students and single people who simply want to have an affordable housing option that is safe and does not require them to get into debt. Tiny homes are a way out of the current housing mess in Ontario.

I have spoken to a lady who is spending 2 thirds of her income just paying for her mortgage and that does not include her car payment and other household expenses. This kind of nightmare is not unusual in today´s Ontario. Although there have been significant raises in wages for certain segments of the population, much of these raises still do not equal the rise in the costs of living for the average Ontario resident.

The biggest hurdles for tiny home developers is the zoning and construction laws. Municipalities must be willing to host tiny home villages, that have significantly different property taxes embedded into their ¨formula¨. I believe that we would not have the same ¨BRAIN DRAIN¨ in Canada if we successfully built up viable tiny home villages. Folks still love our schools and employment opportunities. It is the cost of living that is chasing folks out of our country while we have spent thousands of dollars educating them, only to lose them to countries with lower costs of living.

We can not reasonably expect folks to stay in our beautiful country if the math does not add up.

Yes, we have a high standard of living compared to third world countries, but the average income is finding it hard to maintain that standard and still save for retirement and emergency cash reserves.

Middle income Canadians are forgetting about vacations because their incomes are consumed by the plethora of costs just for basic needs.

We need to foster a ¨tiny home positive¨ atmosphere into Ontario´s building codes. Property taxes and building codes MUST become FRIENDLY to the Tiny Home Movement. The ideal tiny home owner´s dream would be to be able to successfully own a tiny home on a full time minimum wage job. Do we have the political will to get this done? Are we going to make life more reasonable for the entry level working men and women in our country? New Canadians are not asking for mansions on entry level wages. They are asking for the ends to meet. They are asking for life without the assumption of debt.

I believe that tiny homes are the answer to this riddle. Do you agree?

Tweet