Minumum Wage: It May Not Be What you Think It Is

I don't want to get myself in trouble here, but I've heard it put best that minimum wage is a hurdle for businesses to overcome rather than an opportunity for the lower class (I know this is a famous quote so if you know who it was, please comment). I first heard this and it was actually a revolutionary thought.

I know I'm probably fighting an uphill battle already so a quick disclaimer. In
my essay Free Trade: A Race to the Bottom? I pointed out, I am not on the side
of terrible working conditions, but I can recognize how high employment
standards can inhibit competition on the global stage. Let's say in this
example overhead is zero, they need 20 people for a job, and their employment
budget is $100 a day.

20 people/$100 per day= $5 daily wage

Let's introduce a $10 minimum daily wage. The company now must make a decision. Do they double their employment budget? Or do they hire half as many employees?And what are the ramifications of this policy?

First, if they double their employment budget, then where are they cutting costs? Possibly in freight, leading to longer shipping times. Or in advertising,
leading to less project generation. They may even increase cost to the
consumer. You can begin to see where this is leading.

A more likely scenario is a reduction in hiring. A company will likely maintain
everything else and attempt to have 10 people do the work of 20. However, in
all likelihood this will prolong whatever business endeavor they had originally
set out for. This is a vacuum example, imagine the ramifications of these
policies across thousands of businesses.

Without getting too political, many times this is circumvented by inflation. So
realistic wage offerings are generally much higher than is required by law.
This is what is commonly left out of most debates, and most politicians will
use this as a talking point while knowing it won't have the clear effects that
I'm talking about here.

Nevertheless, this is an important concept to think about because if the day ever comes that
inflation is halted (or slowed to a pace that makes this scenario a reality)
then citizens should understand the realities of minimum wage laws.

As a footnote I would like to say two things:

1. I do not believe the ideal way to solve this problem is to pay next to nothing.
I'm only trying to illustrate how leaving things undecided may help
unestablished businesses and that the narrative of higher wage higher standard
of living is untrue and may hurt the local businesses around you.

2. This is an actual problem for many small businesses in this country, and large
businesses have been shown to lobby for higher minimum wages. The presumed
tactic is that it may price out local or startup businesses.