Strategy #1: create a personal income target, not just revenue goals

Most founders focus on hitting income goals for business but forget to factor in what they want or need to be paid. Flip to script: start with your ideal monthly take-home pay and then reverse engineer what the business needs to generate.

Strategy #2: implement a CEO pay structure, even in the early days

One of the most powerful mindset shifts you can make as a founder is to treat yourself like the CEO from day one and that includes getting paid. Even if the amount is small, setting up a consistent pay structure reinforces the fact that your time, energy, and expertise have value.

This isn’t about draining your business of cash; it’s about creating financial habits that support sustainability. When you pay yourself regularly even £100 a month to start, you’re sending a message to yourself (and your business) that your needs matter too. It also helps you get used to managing your business finances with payroll in mind, which becomes crucial as you grow and build a team.

Many of my clients have told me that the simple act of transferring a fixed amount each month gave them more confidence and control than waiting to "see what’s left over" at the end. Spoiler alert: there’s rarely anything left over if you don’t plan for it.

Build the habit now, even if it’s symbolic. Your future self and your future business will thank you for it.

Strategy #3: know the profit margin on every offer

If you don’t know how much profit each service generates, you can’t confidently increase your pay. It’s not about working more; it’s about selling smarter.

When you're working out how much you're actually making from an offer, it’s important to look beyond the surface numbers. It's not enough to just subtract your costs from your sales, you need to consider your time because your hours are valuable too. A simple way to think about this is to take the total revenue from a service, subtract the direct costs involved in delivering the service (such as software, tools, outsourced support, or materials), and then subtract the value of your own time. To do this properly, calculate how many hours you spend personally delivering or managing the work, and multiply that by your ideal hourly rate, the rate you'd want to be paid for your expertise. What's left after these deductions is your real profit. Understanding his figure gives you clarity and confidence when making pricing decisions and ensures you’re focusing your energy on the most profitable parts of your business.

Strategy #4: reinvest strategically, not emotionally

It’s tempting to plough money back into software, coaches or team members but without a clear ROI (return on investment), it can keep you broke.

You should ask yourself with every investment: Will this investment help me to increase capacity, profitability or visibility this quarter?

Strategy #5: use a simple pay yourself first method

One of the simplest and most effective ways to take control of your business finances, especially during periods of growth is to adopt a “Pay Yourself First” approach, inspired by the Profit First method. This approach flips traditional accounting on its head. Instead of working with the typical formula of sales minus expenses equals profit, you reverse it: sales minus profit equals what you can spend. The idea is to intentionally take your profit first and then allocate what’s left to running the business, rather than hoping something is left over at the end of the month.

To make this work in practice, you set a fixed percentage of your monthly revenue to go directly to you, even if it’s just 10% to begin with. Then, divide your income into separate accounts for your salary, true business profit (a buffer you don’t touch), tax obligations, and operational costs. This structure removes the guesswork and emotional decision-making from your money management. I’ve seen clients go from feeling constantly behind and anxious to knowing exactly where their money is going and finally paying themselves consistently and with confidence.

It’s not about restriction; it’s about clarity and control, and that’s what every growing business needs.

Paying yourself more isn’t just about making more, it’s about taking control of your numbers, building a business that works for you, and valuing your own time and expenses.

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