Interest-Free Employee Loans
Retention edge when you can't outbid competitors on wages.
Offer any employee an interest-free loan in any amount with any payback pace (down to $10 per paycheck). Originated as a deliberate retention edge when P. Terry's couldn't match competitor wages — competitors don't do this, so it's a sticky differentiator that doesn't show up in compensation surveys.
- Find retention levers competitors aren't measuring.
- Interest-free is a non-financial transfer — no tax, no notice, no spreadsheet.
- Trust the payback. Even small repayments preserve dignity and the option to borrow again.
Patrick couldn't match competitor wages in the early years. Borrowing money from a bank for the company was costly; lending it back to employees at zero was costless to him and high-value to them.
Source · VIDEO
Patrick Terry on School of Hard Knocks (full episode)