I don't know much about running a business, but I do know that you're in trouble if you aren't making enough money to pay your employees. Paying rent for an office/storefront and payroll are consistent and recurring business costs. They should be pretty easy to budget, considering they're pretty consistent across multiple months. Unfortunately, not every business owner does the bare minimum to keep their head above water, and their employees must pay the price.
A text exchange between a boss and an employee recently went viral on Twitter where the employee asked when they'd be getting paid because they needed to get groceries soon. Instead of simply saying when they'd be paid, the boss blamed the lack of payment on the sales being low, implicitly pointing the finger at the employee's performance. Not only that, but they gave some tedious financial advice that all but proved they're paying their employees a pauper's wage.