The year 2020 will mark the 12th year of the “Secret Lab” name existing.
It initially started as a vehicle for three University friends to do cool things and make stuff, but in 2010 we turned it into a company. So it’s the 12th year of the name, and it’s the 10th anniversary for the “real thing”: the company.
In that time, like most of Australia’s small businesses, we’ve paid other people more than we’ve paid ourselves, and we’ve paid ourselves (Jon and myself) as “Directors Fees”. This made sense, and was the easiest way to do things, but times change.
Starting this year (in fact starting in a few short weeks at the beginning of February, just before we start a whole lot of travel for conferences and events, representing the company) Jon and I will both finally be employees of the company that we founded.
This doesn’t actually change much: the company still has to pay us superannuation, but now we’ll be paying ourselves every month, instead of at the end of a financial year, and now our income will be a wage, instead of directors fees.
We made this change to make it structurally easier to pay ourselves, and to make things a little clearer as we plan to travel to represent the company so much this year. If anyone has any tips on running a small business, 10 years in, I’m all ears!
Either way: from February 2020, I have a new job! It’s very similar to the old one, but I’ll be doing more than just managing the company, as now I’ll be working!
Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison 