The C.R.A.P. That’s Killing Your Small Business (And How to Fix It)
Every small business owner I know is drowning, or has experienced this, in some way or another. They started their business to do something they loved – make hammers, design websites, serve great coffee – but somewhere along the way, they stopped doing that thing entirely. Instead, they’re buried under what Brett Affleck-Aring from Insperity calls C.R.A.P.
And before you think I’m being dramatic, C.R.A.P. is actually an acronym: Compliance, Risk, Administrative burden, and Payroll. It’s the stuff that drags business owners down and prevents them from focusing on what they actually got into business to do.
When You Stop Making Hammers and Start Managing People
Brett put it perfectly during our conversation: “If you start a business to make hammers and suddenly you have 20 employees, you’re not making hammers anymore, you’re managing employees.”
This hits hard because it’s exactly what happens. You get into business because you’re good at something specific. You love it. You want to build something around it. Then you hire your first employee. Then another. Then another. Suddenly, you’re spending more time dealing with payroll issues, compliance questions, and administrative tasks than actually running your business.
The brutal truth? Most small business owners are “one Google search ahead of disaster” when it comes to HR compliance, despite their best efforts.
The Real Cost of Bad Benefits
Here’s something that’ll make you rethink your benefits package: In Washington state, minimum wage for a full-time, exempt HR person is $69,300 a year. In 2026, that’s jumping to around $79,000.
But the thing is, that person is probably overwhelmed if they’re a team of one. They’re dealing with multiple state labor laws (Brett mentioned a client with 12 employees across nine states), constantly changing compliance requirements, and trying to keep up with benefits that get more expensive every year.
Meanwhile, your good employees are looking at offers from Amazon or Microsoft thinking, “I really like it here, but they’re going to give me the good benefits. I have a family. I gotta go.”
The Costco Model: You Can Have Your Cake and Treat People Well Too
Brett brought up Costco as a perfect example of how this actually works in practice. Low prices, big box store, fabulously wealthy owners – and ask any cashier there, they’ll tell you they’ve been there 20 years and love every second of it.
“You can absolutely treat your people well and still be personally very successful,” Brett said. “Why don’t you just make a business that allows you to live the life you want to live and give good jobs to good people that give them the lives they want to live? Why isn’t that enough?”
That question hits at something deeper that’s happening in business right now. We’ve gotten so caught up in the “infinite growth” mentality that we’ve forgotten the point was supposed to be building something sustainable that actually improves people’s lives.
The “Get Better Mentality” That Changes Everything
The clients Brett works with best have what he calls a “get better mentality.” These are business owners who, no matter how well they’re doing, want to do better. They want to do right by their people, and they understand that doing right by their people helps the business grow.
It doesn’t matter if they’re starting from a place of non-compliance or if they’re already doing great – what matters is that they want to improve. When Brett encounters someone whose attitude is “I hate my employees and pay them bare minimum so I can buy another helicopter,” he knows it’s going to be a waste of everyone’s time.
Culture: It Either Happens on Purpose or It Just Happens
One of the most important points from our conversation was about company culture. Brett said, “Culture in a company is something that happens. You can either do it on purpose or you can just let it happen. And I’ll tell you which one is gonna be better in the long run.”
He also called out something that made me laugh: “I love it when I talk to a business owner and they say, ‘Oh yeah, we have a great culture. Everybody tells me that they love it here.’ Wow. Everybody tells the guy who signs their paychecks that they like their job. Interesting.”
The real test of culture isn’t what people tell the boss – it’s whether employees are recommending their friends and family to come work there too.
The Real ROI of Taking Care of People
Here’s the math that should make every business owner pay attention… It can cost an employee’s annual salary to hire, train, and get someone up and running effectively. So if you’re paying someone $69,000, you’re looking at $138,000 in the first year between their salary and the cost of getting them productive.
When you factor in lost productivity, training time, and the period where you’re paying someone who isn’t generating revenue yet, employee retention becomes one of the most important financial decisions you can make.
What This Actually Looks Like in Practice
Brett shared an example of working with the Finney Neighborhood Association, a local nonprofit with a lot of part-time employees who couldn’t get health benefits. They were able to set up a corporate Health Savings Account where the organization puts money aside tax-free. When part-time employees have medical expenses they can’t afford, they can ask for help – and there’s literally money earmarked for exactly that purpose.
If nobody needs it that year, the money stays there and grows. It’s the kind of creative solution that only works when you’re actually trying to solve problems for people, not just check compliance boxes.
The Bottom Line
The businesses that are thriving right now aren’t the ones focused on infinite growth or buying helicopters. They’re the ones that figured out how to create sustainable operations that allow the owner to actually live their life while giving their employees something worth staying for.
Whether that’s through outsourced HR, better benefits, or just being intentional about company culture, the principle is the same: when you take care of your people, they take care of your business.
And honestly, in a world where everyone’s competing for talent, that might be the most competitive advantage you can have.
You can also connect with Brett on LinkedIn!
