Aloha, my name is Borys Rasin. I’m an immigrant from Ukraine who came to Hawaii in 2015 with no money, no connections, and no knowledge of English. Today, I own and run several multi-million-dollar businesses: Best Flooring Honolulu – a flooring store, and Nroro – a brand under which we sell flooring, wall paneling, moldings, and a variety of other products.
On this channel, I share my journey and provide advice to help business owners like myself avoid the mistakes I made in the past. I firmly believe that it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes rather than spending time and resources making the same errors yourself. If you agree with my views, please follow my channel and like this video to help me create more content like this.
In this video, I’ll discuss the biggest challenge you’ll face when starting a business in Hawaii: finding reliable labor. Finding the right people for any business is hard, but in Hawaii, it’s especially challenging. Here are some of the reasons why this is happening, in my opinion:
First, Hawaii’s remote location and high cost of living lower the number of immigrants that come for work purposes, almost to zero. For example, if you live in San Diego, you know firsthand how many people are coming there in search of work. Not even 1% of that number is coming to Hawaii because it requires a long-term commitment and money to earn back the money invested in moving. Also, since not many work immigrants are coming, there is no infrastructure for them. (Insert a graph or map showing immigration trends)
Second, workforce leakage. From what I see, almost every young person who was born in Hawaii is planning to leave Hawaii right after school, hoping that education in other states will have better quality and that it’s easier to find a better-paying job after graduation. This creates a situation when highly skilled people with higher education are leaving Hawaii even before getting on the labor market. I know at least 8-10 families whose kids will be leaving to the mainland to study at the university. And I haven’t heard from anybody about plans for them to come back to Hawaii to work here. (Include interviews or quotes from locals planning to leave)
Third, local people are almost not represented in the labor market for small businesses. By local, I mean people who have lived in Hawaii for over 10 years. And when I say “are not represented,” it’s based on the fact that I conduct over a dozen interviews every month, and almost all candidates who come for the interview moved to Hawaii relatively recently. I mostly see local people in the state and government structures like police, firefighters, USPS, military, etc., and also I see a lot working in the tourist sphere. (Show footage of local interviews or job market statistics)
Fourth, the lack of working immigrants, low engagement of the local population, and workforce leakage create a situation where the demand for labor force is significantly higher than supply. This statement is supported by Hawaii’s lowest unemployment rate in all 50 states for a number of years. This imbalance allows some employees to act irresponsibly and carelessly about the job. Even in the event when they are fired or decide to quit the job, they can immediately find another job because there are so many job openings. One of the most recent examples: I had a flooring installer last year. I noticed that every 2 minutes he stops working to look into his phone either to answer a text message or to reply to a call. I asked him not to use his phone while he is clocked in since he is paid on an hourly rate, unless it’s an emergency. I did it in a very polite way; however, he explained to me in detail where and how deep I should go, and I can tell you it wasn’t in the office, collected his tools, and took off. The next day, I saw him working at a different flooring company, and the funny part – he was still looking at his phone. Unfortunately, this is something I’ve encountered numerous times, and inadequate behavior is supported by the absence of fear of losing a job. Since you can find another one the next day. And what even more impressed me, not many care about their reputation in my sphere of businesses, which is one of the most important things for me and my business, especially in such a small state like Hawaii. (Include a brief reenactment or illustrative animation of this scenario)
Fifth, I’ve noticed that most people coming to Hawaii for a long run don’t have a dire need to get a job. They are coming here with the intent to increase the quality of life, to relax, and enjoy Hawaii. In most cases, they have some savings in their bank account or some kind of passive income, like rentals back home, or support from the family. Since they have some sort of income, they are not in a desperate search for work. And the same as in the previous statement, for them, it’s relatively easy to let the job go since they still will maintain their income or financial support. And even when they decide to start working, it’s not going to be a career-oriented or hard-grinding type of job. It would most likely be a no-stress and no-sweat part-time job, like a waitress, hostess, valet parking, beach boy, surf instructor, etc. I’ve hired a guy as a helper to do deliveries and some chores in the flooring store; he worked for 3-4 days and then asked to quit. On my questions “why is he quitting, since he barely started working,” he said that for $20 per hour he wants to work as a beach boy, to “hook up” with girls and get “sweet tips,” rather than spend time in the store and learn to become a salesperson or an installer. (Add images of common part-time jobs and lifestyle visuals)
Sixth, the general world trend screaming the idea of “work smarter, not harder” created a new mindset where people prioritize low commitment hassling over getting a long-term, hard commitment classical job. For example, driving Uber, doing DoorDash deliveries, renting out vehicles on Turo, renting out a room on Airbnb, etc. The fact that side hustlers can earn approximately the same or sometimes even more money compared to an entry-level or low qualification job supports this trend. With an extra bonus of a flexible schedule and low commitments, where you can quit at any time without harmful consequences. I have a friend. When he just moved to Hawaii, he had no knowledge of English and no job, but was in dire need of money. I invited him to work as an installer for me, even though he had no prior experience. I’ve taught him to install carpet and laminate for a number of months. As soon as he was ready to work on his own, he gathered enough money to buy a Prius. He purchased one, quit working for me, and started working as a deliveryman for DoorDash. He has been doing deliveries for the last 3 years, from what I know. On my question why, he replied that this allows him to sleep as long as he wants and also drive at night, to spend most of the time on the beach. Island priorities, I guess.
Seventh, even when a person is ready to work hard, in the current world, there are a high number of options for remote work. This allows employees to work on their own time schedule while enjoying Hawaii lifestyle: staying on the beach, hiking, or surfing. And in a lot of cases – in another state like California or Washington, where salaries are significantly higher. Doing jobs like copywriting, graphic designing, website editing, programming, project managing, etc. Jack, a friend of mine who recently purchased a house in Hawaii Kai, never worked even one day in Hawaii, since he is a project manager for a medical facility in Washington state. Even so, he has been living in Hawaii for the last 5 years.
Eighth, Hawaii vacation vibe and spirit are another important matter to mention. People want to spend more time outdoors, and if they are at work grinding, they get a feeling like they are missing out on life. Here is a story from my experience: I hired a guy named Mike for a flooring installer position. He just moved to Oahu, rented a place, and was in dire need of work. When he just started, he was working super hard, always on time, focused on installation without distractions. Only after only 5 weeks, I noticed that he started to slow down, his work became sloppy, and he started to make many mistakes and get a lot of complaints from customers. Also, he reached out to me and asked to cut his hours. When I asked him what was going on, he said that all his new friends are playing volleyball, staying on the beach, and partying, while he is on his knees working for me. And he started to get depressed because he is feeling that he is missing out on life. On my question “how he is planning to afford this lifestyle,” he answered “I’ll figure it out. For now, I need to spend more time relaxing and enjoying my life”. The crazy part is, that if this happened to me for the first time, I would just laugh it off and forget about it. However, since I’ve been doing business in Hawaii for almost a decade, and I communicate with many local business owners, I’ve known that it’s not only something that happened to me over a dozen times, but to my fellow business owners as well. Another side of Hawaii vacation vibe is that while partying, people tend to drink, smoke, and do drugs. This creates another problem, when almost every week you have at least one guy not showing at work due to over partying or drinking too much.
Ninth, low level and quality of education and qualification system. It’s a well-known fact that the education level in school, colleges, and universities is not the highest in Hawaii. We have a big deficit of qualified teachers and educators in the state. And from what I know, there are a number of state programs that were created to solve this problem. The same goes without saying for adults that are seeking requalification, there are some options, but they are very limited and far from the real job experience needed. This creates another leak in the supply of qualified labor force. (Include statistics or visual data on education quality and state programs)
All these conditions create significant challenges in the Hawaii labor market. In my next video, I will discuss these issues in detail and share solutions that I believe can address them. Please like this video and subscribe to my channel. My goal for today is to gain one new subscriber, and you can help me achieve that right now.
See you in my next video. Have an amazing, sunny day. Mahalo!
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