Thursday, September 20, 2012

The origin of Jobs

Setting: Business School class - Business Models for Startups - Lecture
Professor: Your goal is to generate a business model that makes more money than it spends over time.
Student: I thought the goal of the business was to give jobs to people.
Professor: It depends on your business model. If you painted paintings that sold for millions and it only cost you 100 dollars, then you wouldn't really need to hire anyone. But you could have a factory that made a product or a call center to provide a service with lots of people.
Student: I think business should hire as many people as it can.
Professor: As long as your business model supports it, you should hire as many as you need. But growing too fast is dangerous because you'll have to lay them off if you can't pay them.
Student: But laying them off is not fair. They have families. We should give them a living wage and guaranteed employment forever.
Professor: But if your business is not bringing in enough money to pay those employees you'll go out of business.
Student: That’s why Government is there. They can bail us out like they did before.
Professor: That’s not how it usually is.
Student: I think it will be like that.
Professor: Its a better idea to create a sustainable business model and only hire as many people as you need.
Student: No, I want to give people a living wage.
Professor: That’s great, but you should pay each person based on how much benefit they bring to your company.
Student: That’s not fair to that person if they aren't that good.
Professor: What kind of business are you thinking of starting?
Student: Washington DC Lobbyist Firm
Professor: Good for you. I think your going into the right field with your mindset.

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