Posted by Michael

People who start businesses decided one of two things to be true, maybe both.

1. I’m not going to make enough money working for someone else.
2. I have a talent/good/service that I can use to get paid.

So, you’re working for company X making however much money they decided to pay you. Aside from having taxes auto deducted from your paychecks; theres little difference between you and an entrepreneur. You’re just a bad one.

Think of your employer as a client. They pay you to do a job and you do that job for a paycheck. I might be wrong, but I’d bet there are people at your current place of employment being paid to do the exact job you’re doing. I’d also bet that more then a few of them are being paid more then you are. And… you probably think you do the job way better then they can. Am I right? Yeah I’m right.

When I’m figuring out a rate for a new client one of the many factors I consider is how much money my services can potentially make them. Essentially, what am I really worth? That last paycheck you got… is that what you’re really worth? Really?

You’re a Terrible Business Person

You know you’re providing a superior product, so why aren’t you charging your client appropriately? It’s probably the fear. If you say something about your compensation, the client might decide you’re not the right person for the job. Or, they just might look you in the eyes and say “no”. I hate rejection, everyone does. Get over it. If getting paid what you’re worth is important to you you’re going to need to buck up and ask for a better rate. Scary sh*t, I know.

Again… Get over it

Whoa… whoa… hold up. Before you going kicking down your bosses door you need to be prepared. Asking for a raise is serious business.

• Make a list of the goals you have accomplished for the company. Determine how their accomplishment has helped the company. Document costs savings, productivity improvement, superior staff development, important projects achieved, above-the-call customer service, and ways in which you have contributed more than your job required. Documented, these accomplishments may justify a pay increase.
• Make a list of any additional responsibilities you have added to your job. An increase in responsibility, more employees supervised, or special projects are often grounds for an increase, if you ask.
• Set a pay increase goal, in your mind, that appears to reward the contributions and additional responsibilities you have documented.
• Learn about negotiation from books, resources, networking, and friends who have successfully negotiated a pay raise.
• Set up a meeting with your immediate supervisor to discuss your compensation. You will not want to ambush your supervisor. If the supervisor is unprepared to discuss an increase with you, nothing will happen at the meeting. Your boss will also want to do his research with the Human Resources staff and his own industry sources.

No matter how prepared you are, asking for more money can be crazy difficult. Naomi over at IttyBiz wrote a great piece titled -

Entrepreneurship: What To Do When You’re Scared Sh*tless

Thats a big a** link. Anyway, stepping into entrepreneurship is scary stuff, and likewise - asking for more money from your employer, so the stuff Naomi goes on about still applies. You should read it.

When you get your next paycheck take a look at it and ask yourself “Is this what I’m worth?”. If yes - carry on. If no… do something about it.