I feel the need, the need for vodka…

I was thinking about this today- So if a cleaning company raises their prices because of how the new laws affect them (OT, health insurance, sick time, minimum wage increase), then my company ends up paying them a higher price because of their employees, AND we pay more for our staff (OT, health insurance, sick time, minimum wage increase).  So then if I decide to pass those increases on to my clients, do I pass on both my employee costs and my other overhead costs such as the cleaning company’s increase?  So then do my clients then pass on my increase and my cleaners increase and their employee costs increase to their customers?  If the answer is yes, then at what point will it stop? 

Yesterday I saw a receipt from a fine dining restaurant in L.A. that had printed at the bottom that they added a 5% fee to the dinner bill to cover their employees health insurance costs.  And today our cleaning company raised our prices by more than 20% because of the employee OT/sick time/minimum wage increases that they’re facing.  And of course, my company has it’s own increased employee costs due to the same rules.  So if all of my vendors (business and personal) pass on their increases to me, and I don’t pass it on to my customers, how do I not become destitute running my own small business? 

So if I’m not making money anymore as a small business owner because of the government’s intervention, and I have to close up shop, then doesn’t that make things worse for the exact people that the laws are designed to help (the employees)?  Then 6 people would be out in the unemployment line and the government would end up paying for it anyway-but I no longer have the job I adore, my staff no longer have their jobs, and the clients I’ve had for 20 years no longer have my services.  As a small business owner that absolutely loves her company, staff, partner and clients more than anything in the world, I sure have a huge, painful knot in my stomach right now.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens…

Disclaimer-The above rant is mostly just random speculation and intense curiosity.  My business isn’t closing, my staff isn’t getting laid off and I’m not leaving my clients high and dry.  But damn, can someone cut the small business owners a break for a change?!  I think I’ll go have a cocktail now.