Steam coming from my ears listening to Jeremy Vine Show about raising the National Minimum Wage

Whilst driving to drop one of the Little Caterpillars off home I happened to catch the tail end of a debate going on about raising the National Minimum Wage.  In complete agreement with caller Margaret (if you were listening) that this will most certainly have an adverse effect on micro businesses like mine.  I have been pretty proud of myself for developing my business to such an extent that I am in a position to employ other people but I could have just as easily decided not to expand and continue to work alone and this would almost certainly been the case if the minimum wage we're set so that it didn't make it worth my while.  As it happens I have created a job for someone in my local area which although a drop in the ocean is a small part that I  doing to reduce the unemployment figures.  So would it better for me to employ someone on a low wage or not employ them at all?

Some callers we're talking about the NMW not being adequate for people to live on - well surely this depends on the person - everyone has different circumstances and not everyone has household bills to pay, young people still living at home with parents for one.  For them they might just be grateful for the opportunity to get some experience and have some spending money in their pocket.  With the right employer this might just give them the right set up for life.  Then some callers mentioned exploitation - really?  Well I can't really speak for huge companies, making huge profits and yes morally they should take a look at themselves but for those us who are making very modest profits it's not that we don't want to pay more it is simply that it doesn't make business sense to do so.  I can assure you that I am not sitting on a big pile of money and paying the NMW just because I want to keep it all to myself!  My views on people going for jobs on any wage or indeed those going for zero hour contracts is that you have the choice to do so.  No-one forces someone to go for a job on a low wage or on a zero hours contract they can always go for another job or not go for one at all - that's their prerogative  and I think it should be mine to decide what I pay them.  Some callers thought that having a NMW was actually detrimental because some employers opt to pay the legal minimum because they can.  I agree with this too - I would prefer to see it left to market forces.  Clearly in order to be paid more you would have to prove your worth which is not a bad thing.  My final point is that being self-employed gives you no right to any NMW whatsoever - whilst I built my business up I worked for way way less than the minimum wage for about 18 months. I persevered, worked hard and long hours and it came good.  These are the traits and the work ethic that we should be instilling in the workforce of today.  I will always endeavour to employ the best quality people and I know that this will mean paying them a decent wage so together the team and I will work build the business to the point where this is possible.  Let's hope we are not stopped in our tracks as we strive to get to that point.