In the mid-90’s, I had a boss named Gert-Allan Persson at the advertising agency Södergården, I worked at as an employee and later for as a freelancer. He taught me the importance of having an employee manual made, also for small businesses, and the importance of budget transparency. Every week, we started off with a meeting to delegate and follow up our campaign plans and projects, as well as the finances of the firm. How much we had been able to invoice, how much our salaries cost, and thus how many hours we needed to have completed with actual client work, to make it even. Then, we also received a small bonus, when we exceeded this. In this way, it became clear how a business is run and how my part as an employee plays in. This is something I’ve carried with me since then, as a positive example to forward and use.

At Telluselle Living Center, it therefor is necessary to be transparent with the income and the costs, so that each instructor, teacher or coach, can see for themselves what their contribution is. For example, the cost of the house can be budgeted with anything from property tax, maintenance and mortgages (unless I can find an investor or two…), to insurance and utilities. This cost is set per month, regardless. To meet this cost, it’s then easy to count how many visitors need to show up and pay for each class, and how many classes. Anything above this, and salary taxes and marketing, will be what becomes the profit for each instructor (teacher or coach), with some to me. My hope is, that this kind of transparency and model, both becomes grounded in real facts, as well as encourages leadership and responsibility for each contributor. If owned together, it will be equally divided as a co-op. The question is, whether this should be a for profit, or a non-profit, organization.

How is it for you where you work? How much business, knowledge and collaborative effort are you contributing with? Are you paid accordingly and equally?