The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

"Sasha was right. You really are impressive," Shane said nervously.

I met his gaze, calm and composed. "Thank you."

Sasha tilted her chin up proudly. "See? Anyone I vouch for is guaranteed to be exceptional."

I chuckled. "You certainly have a good eye."

"Exactly," Sasha agreed.

Once our conversation wrapped up, she shifted her focus to Zane. "By the way, in your opinion, what's the most important factor in starting a company?"

She wanted their business to grow and endure but wasn't sure how to ensure its long-term success. "That's easy," Zane replied at a leisurely pace. "Money. Pay your employees generously. They'll bring you more value than you could ever anticipate."

Sasha was aware that Huxham Corporation operated on similar principles, but hearing Zane lay it out so directly still left her stunned.

Shane felt the same way. They both looked as though a whole new perspective had just been revealed to them. It was a concept no one had ever spelled out so clearly before.

"Just pay them well?" Sasha asked, her disbelief evident. "That's all it takes? Nothing else?"noveldrama

Zane remained composed as he explained, "If you allocate 90% of the company's profits to your

employees, they'll be more invested than you are in keeping the company afloat."

As Sasha considered his reasoning, she began to see the logic in it. If she were job hunting, she'd naturally gravitate toward a company that offered great benefits and regular weekends off.

And once she landed a job like that, she'd want to hold onto it for as long as possible-ideally, all the way to retirement.

Shane asked, "Are they afraid they won't be able to find a job like this again if the company goes under?"

"Exactly," Zane replied calmly. "When I first started saw people who took most of the profits for themselves, leaving barely anything for the employees. Some of them got into trouble-arrested or forced to run and the companies were left in the hands of the employees.

"With no one at the top taking most of the money, the employees managed to keep things going just fine."

That experience solidified Zane's belief in paying employees generously. "I believe that as long as the higher-ups don't take an unreasonably large cut, any company has a real opportunity to succeed, even in a fiercely competitive market."

Shane nodded slowly, still processing. "But I can make a lot more myself for certain projects if I handle them personally."

Zane gave Shane a measured look,

saying, "It's natural to want to hold on to your own profits. But think about it sure, you could make 50 or 100 thousand dollars on a single project by handling it yourself. But there's a limit to how many projects you can manage on your own.

"Imagine your company expanding to several thousand employees. If each of them closes just one 100 thousand deal a day, and you take a 10 thousand cut from every deal, you'd be raking in millions daily."

Zane drew from his own experience

and continued, "If you focus too

much on keeping small personal gains, you'll lose sight of the bigger picture. Opportunities in entrepreneurship can

disappel.ne

in

an instant. If you hesitate or hold back, someone else will grab your idea, scale it, and in the end..."