Red Portfolio Home > Owning A Business > Taking Care Of Employees
They help take care of business.
Make sure you take care of them.
Any business is only as good as the people who work for it. And now that you work for yourself, think back on the kinds of incentives you liked and didn’t like from your former employers. It’s the perfect way to create an incentive package your own employees will appreciate.
To your health!
The two most common types of managed care you can set up for your employees are a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) – essentially a prepaid arrangement where employees must use approved doctors and hospitals – and a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). Unfortunately, rising health care costs are making these types of plans a luxury for most small companies. But there are options, including self-insurance or a medical savings account. Talk to other owners of companies similar in size to yours for recommendations. But always do your homework – compare prices, investigate the underwriter and make sure the company follows all state regulations. And if you are your only employee, you need to provide for your own individual health insurance to make sure you and your family are financially protected against any health care expenses.
Fast Fact! One in 11 adult women is an entrepreneur.¹
Protect them for life.
It’s easy to see how Group Life Insurance can benefit your employees, but offering a plan can also be advantageous to you, the employer. The premiums are generally tax-deductible on a federal basis and it can contribute to an employee’s satisfaction and job security - which can save you money in hiring and training costs. And if you think you need to be the size of a Fortune 500 company, think again. Although some states require a minimum of ten employees, in most cases a group life plan can be established with as few as five employees.
A little extra incentive.
Turnover is an employer’s worst nightmare. Not only is it time-consuming to find qualified employees, it costs money to train them. The most effective way to keep quality employees is to make them feel like they are a valued member of the team. One way to do this is to offer a solid incentive plan. Perks such as a pension plan, like a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP), a 401(k) or profit sharing are all relatively inexpensive to establish and maintain – especially in regard to the degree of morale and loyalty they can provide. Check out the basic differences between the business retirement plans to see which one might be right for you. And if you truly depend on one employee more than others, key employee incentives are available to further entice them to stay on board – helping you with the cost of replacing them.