“I Don’t Want to Become Corporate”: What Small Business Owners Told Us This Year — and What Actually Helped
As the year wrapped up, I spent time reflecting on the conversations I had most often with clients across construction, healthcare, nonprofits, education, and professional services.
Different industries. Different stages of growth.
But the same concerns came up again and again.
Here’s what I heard most from business owners this year:
“I don’t want to become corporate.”
“HR feels like a necessary evil.”
“I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to HR.”
“And honestly…I hate HR.”
That resistance wasn’t about people.
It was about fear - fear of losing what made their business theirs.
When HR Feels Like a Threat to Your Culture
Many owners associate HR with bureaucracy, red tape, and policies that feel disconnected from real life.
So instead of building structure, they avoid it.
And over time, that avoidance creates a different set of problems.
More than a few owners shared something deeper with me this year:
They felt held hostage by one or two employees.
These were people who had been around forever. They knew how everything worked. And yet, they were creating tension, burnout, or fear across the team.
The owner knew something had to change, but didn’t know how without risking the business.
That’s where much of our work focused this year.
What We Actually Fixed (Without Making Businesses Corporate)
In 2025, Salt & Light Advisors supported organizations ranging from under 10 employees to well over 200.
On the surface, they looked very different.
Underneath? The same people problems.
We helped leaders:
Put HR foundations in place without becoming corporate
Reduce risk when only one person “knew how everything worked”
Create documentation that removed key-person dependency
Navigate hard people decisions with clarity instead of fear
Replace HR guesswork with confidence
One construction company came to us knowing their growth had outpaced their systems.
They didn’t want layers of bureaucracy. They wanted protection and clarity.
By putting simple structure in place, they reduced stress, improved accountability, and stopped HR from living in the back of the owner’s mind.
When One Person Holds Too Much Power
Another leader reached out because they were exhausted.
One employee’s behavior was impacting the entire team, but no one else knew how to do that role.
Together, we built systems that reduced dependence on one person and gave the owner options instead of ultimatums.
That relief is the real outcome of good HR.
Not control.
Not corporatization.
Capacity.
Why “I Don’t Want to Become Corporate” Is a Signal - Not a Strategy
Most owners don’t hate HR.
They hate bad HR.
They hate complexity that doesn’t serve them.
They hate rules without context.
They hate feeling exposed and unsure.
What they actually want is:
Clarity
Protection
Confidence
And they want it without turning their business into something it’s not.
A More Sustainable Way Forward
As we head into the new year, I’m narrowing my focus intentionally.
If you’ve been thinking:
“We’ve grown, but our HR hasn’t.”
“I don’t want to become corporate.”
“I’m tired of feeling exposed or unsure.”
“I want HR handled - not hated.”
HR in a Box was built for exactly this season.
It’s a practical, right-sized way to put essential HR structure in place:
Without hiring full-time
Without hourly guesswork
Without losing your culture
As I plan for the year ahead, I’m focusing on filling HR in a Box with business owners who want clarity, protection, and confidence — not complexity.
It’s also the most affordable way to work with me.
👉 Learn more about HR in a Box here.
Looking Ahead
Thank you for being part of this community this year.
I’m proud of the work we did, and excited to help more owners stop hating HR in the year ahead.
Here’s to less stress and better structure.
Kerri M. Roberts
Founder, Salt & Light Advisors
