The owner, or the person that invests in a new business, gets paid out of the business’ profits. An employee gets a guaranteed wage paid by the owner/investor. Therefore, the employee cares about getting a paycheck, while the owner cares about the ongoing success of the business and profits. We own a few income properties and act as our own property manager.
As a landlord, I respond pretty quickly to tenant requests because if I don’t, I run the risk that the tenant may terminate the rental agreement and move out. Tenant churn generally cost me dearly. It triggers an apartment rehab (deep cleaning, carpet, paint. etc) and often the loss of rent for one to two months. By contrast, one of my sons lived in a large apartment complex that employs a full-time on-site property manager.
Recently my son, who was a good multi-term tenant of the complex, contacted the rental office and was treated very poorly by the property manager. As a result of the incident he terminated his contract early and moved. The property manager of the complex was an employee and not an owner. Therefore, she did not care about how her actions might impact the ongoing success or revenues of the apartment complex. Perhaps if her compensation was somehow tied to the success of the complex she might have responded differently.
How can you make your employees think more like an owner than an employee?
