I've done this more times than I can count. It all comes down to accurately valuing your contribution and evaluating your position in the company.
If the work is steady and you are making a solid contribution, then there is usually much to be gained by bargaining for a pay increase. If work (ie: not necessarily "profits") is slow it is harder to claim you are due a raise if the organization is not operating near capacity.
I usually try to get a feel for other salaries in the company first (note: it is helpful to make friends with the HR people, even if you don't particularly like them, they can be a useful source of info). If the company has a general principle of paying way below average salaries, it's going to be harder to negotiate. But, if other people are making decent bank, your request is likely to be evaluated in proportion to other team members, and perhaps seen as more reasonable/rational.
But what it really comes down to is scheduling some time with your manager and laying out the details. There are a million variables, but you probably want to highlight your lack of salary growth while you've been there, your increasing contributions, fair market value for your position and so on. If your boss is weak, he'll probably tell you he needs to get approval and may reference some semi far-off non specific date/event ("the next staff meeting", or "after HR is done with the new benefits policy") if he won't commit to a specific time, tell him you'll check back "next Thursday" or some specific time.
In the end, few people have ever gotten fired simply for trying to better their salary and move up the ladder. Don't be intimidated by the process or make it into anything larger than what it is: a simple conversation.
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I've done this more times than I can count. It all comes down to accurately valuing your contribution and evaluating your position in the company.
If the work is steady and you are making a solid contribution, then there is usually much to be gained by bargaining for a pay increase. If work (ie: not necessarily "profits") is slow it is harder to claim you are due a raise if the organization is not operating near capacity.
I usually try to get a feel for other salaries in the company first (note: it is helpful to make friends with the HR people, even if you don't particularly like them, they can be a useful source of info). If the company has a general principle of paying way below average salaries, it's going to be harder to negotiate. But, if other people are making decent bank, your request is likely to be evaluated in proportion to other team members, and perhaps seen as more reasonable/rational.
But what it really comes down to is scheduling some time with your manager and laying out the details. There are a million variables, but you probably want to highlight your lack of salary growth while you've been there, your increasing contributions, fair market value for your position and so on. If your boss is weak, he'll probably tell you he needs to get approval and may reference some semi far-off non specific date/event ("the next staff meeting", or "after HR is done with the new benefits policy") if he won't commit to a specific time, tell him you'll check back "next Thursday" or some specific time.
In the end, few people have ever gotten fired simply for trying to better their salary and move up the ladder. Don't be intimidated by the process or make it into anything larger than what it is: a simple conversation.