Retirement investing for small business owner

[fizbanco]

Hey Everybody,
  Long-time lurker here (2 years) but first post.  I run a small business with me and 8 employees, some of which are part time.  Average employee pay is fairly low.  I make $25k/yr salary, but bring home more in end of year distributions.

I've been maxing my traditional IRA, but am now looking to max out my pre-tax investment options to decrease taxes.  I'm also just now setting up an HSA and will be maxing it out. 

I've looked at SEP and SIMPLE as from what I understand the solo 401k is out due to employees.  The simple seems to be my best option, as I can contribute $12k/year myself and only need to do a max 3% income match on the employer side.  This currently shouldn't be more than about $2.5k at the most.  Total payroll (including my salary) is about $130k/yr.

Also, are there any other ideas on options that I'm missing?  I appreciate any help.

[Wesmon]

I've done a SIMPLE before and it worked out well.  Super easy, only a few employees, contributed so the cost was minimal.  I did it through Vanguard.  They handled all the paperwork at no cost.

[fizbanco]

Actually after reading a bit more, it looks like my IRA won't be tax deductible anymore if I setup the SIMPLE as I'm over the MAGI limits.  Guess I can always start a Roth.  Guess I need to run the numbers and check with my accountant.

[Swbink02]

What about starting a safe harbor 401K to allow you to shelter $52,000/year?