Times are certainly tough for start-up businesses, but that shouldn’t mean that you should be afraid to ask for a raise if you feel like your hard work justifies a higher salary.  As an Executive team member for a start-up government IT contracting business, one of our Directors came to us just for that reason, and was successful in winning us over to get a new salary.  You can try the same thing! Here’s how to do it:

1. Document the new work you are doing and determine the benefits and value that you are providing the organization.  How are your current responsibilities above your original job description?  How many extra hours are you working? What tasks have you tackled that no one else wanted?  How have those things impacted the business?  Did they save money, make money, save a client, attract a new client, or make the company more financially stable?  Even so, how do your executives value that impact? Do you know what your executives are valuing in that moment of time?  If you’ve had a performance evaluation, how did you do?  Don’t ask for a raise if you aren’t earning top scores.
2. Determine what new salary you want by analyzing the market.  Consider all the hats you are wearing (operations, administration, finance, sales, marketing, etc.) and analyze those salaries, too.  This data can be found easily on line at places like www.salary.com or associations unique to your industry.  How do all those new salaries compare to your current salary?  Together, what do they average out to be?  When you are finished, determine what a target realistic salary could be for you.
3. If you have access to financial information, run some numbers to see if the new target salary is affordable for the business.  If it isn’t, reconsider your number or come up with a way to afford it.  Maybe you can present some ideas on how to save money on expenses somewhere else to help justify the new amount.
4. Get an appointment with the executives.  Ask for a meeting with all of the decision makers, or ask for time on the agenda of a regularly occurring meeting where the executives will be.  Make sure you are asking the final decision makers.
5. Prepare and practice your presentation.  Don’t forget to also prepare for questions, objections or alternatives.  They’ll probably want to know first if your requested salary is even affordable.  They might want to know if you also expect a title change.  They might wonder how your new salary would impact those around you; if they give you more money will they have to give everyone more money?  Decide ahead of time what you are going to do if they turn you down flat, say “ok but not now,” or offer you another type of benefit.  Will you resign?  Will you ask for another meeting in 3 more months?  Would you accept a bonus or commission plan in lieu of a salary jump? What if they tell you that the value you thought you were providing wasn’t really of value?  Will you be open to accepting their evaluation of your work?
6. It’s the day of your meeting, what are you going to say? Start out by telling them how happy you are to have the job that you have, and that you are excited about the company’s future.  List the tasks you’ve accomplished and show how they provided value to the company.  Admit that you’ve done some thinking lately and came to the conclusion that your current salary is not commensurate with the job you are providing for the company.  Show the salary figures that you researched.  Tell them the new salary you want.  When you are finished, sit back and let them take the floor.  Answer their questions that you’ve hopefully already prepared.  Use smart selling skills:  if they say yes, stop talking and say thank you.  Don’t keep blathering on with data that you have in your arsenal.  If they say no or not yet, present what you are prepared to do or ask for.
7. Follow up after the meeting.  If they said yes, thank them again and see what needs to be done to process it.  If they said not yet, come up with your plan to meet their criteria to earn a yes later.  If they said no, hopefully you set the stage for asking another time.

You don’t need to be afraid to ask for what you are worth if you present a strong case and are open to hearing the feedback you might receive.  Good luck!  Let me know if you used these ideas and it worked!