that I don't personally think there's any situation at all where people should be hungry or not be able to afford medical care or suffer any of the other problems of life in poverty for the profit of any business owner at all of any business of any size.

If a minimum wage increase so horribly affects small businesses, then we need to structure things differently so it does not. Maybe stop subsidizing large businesses so much that small ones can't compete. But we don't solve their problem by allowing them to pay their employees so little that the employees remain in poverty even working full time.

If his labor costs are forty percent of his overhead, a twenty percent increase in labor costs increases his overhead by eight percent, not twenty percent....

. . . kind of needed to know whether his numbers that he cites are realistic and reasonable, and not just more wingding justification for cheap labor conservativism. My guess is that the "20% increase in prices" seems a little fishy.

Therefore I can't take him serious when he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Eternity? A biz owner should factor in raises for employees.

Still, I'm not getting why he didn't think to plan for raises. That's as inevitable as time and tide, sorry to inform him. Well, unless you WANT no customers.

with the necessary growth to pay for raises.

50% of small business start ups are out of business by 5 years, aprox 70% by ten years

http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/12/start-up-failure-rates-the-definitive-numbers.html

For most small business owners, mere survival is the only thing on their minds.

He should be paying higher wages. It doesn't mean he can afford to.

a) labor costs are running 38-40%
<this is very typical for a restaurant type business. Obviously in manufacturing or retail business, labor would be much lower.

b) a minimum wage increase translates to an across-the-board increase for ALL employees
<mostly true. Salaried employees (managers) probably wouldn't get a pay increase. But the guy making $9/hr is suddenly going to want to make $10/hr.

c) barely get by, work 60-80 hrs a week, blah blah blah (because your average working stiff, of course, doesn't even come close to that Not belittling him, but don't make this a dick-swinging contest).
<probably true to some degree. The first couple of years in small biz is HELL.

d) a 20% increase in payroll would mean he would have to increase prices 20%
<totally false. He'll have to raise prices 8% to cover the additional cost.

e) mega-corps can handle the wage increase, small businesses can't.
<there are many small businesses that can handle it. But, in general, larger business are better equipped to deal with it.

f) 12 people would be out of work and he'd have to close down.
<probably how he feels right now. may or may not be true. An increase in minimum wage will be extremely painful to a lot of restaurant owners who are just struggling by right now.

Full disclosure:
I own a coffee shop where most employees make $9-10/hr + tips.

Small business owners took advantage of decades of 'Piss on the Working Class' economics. Now they need to get use to a more competitive market. IF they don't want to pay minimum wage, then good luck staying in business - IE employees will find the job that DOES pay 10 plus an hour.

I've worked for many small business and own my own small business. When an owner complains about wages, what they really should be complaining about is getting the cold shoulder on the trillions in corporate welfare the Big Biz fellas wallow in daily.

Instead they would more likely blame a poor person on social welfare than their much richer cousins on corporate welfare - for the state of the economy.

should really just STFU. nobody forced them into this. nobody.