Wednesday, November 11, 2026
43% of US owners have hidden business stress from a partner or family member. Carrying it alone doesn't protect them — it just means you're carrying it alone.
Last updated 13 November 2026. Published by Simple-Growth (Motherbase Limited). Market: United States.
The business paid everyone this month — the team, the suppliers, the landlord. You paid yourself what was left over, which this month was less than last month, and you've stopped mentioning it out loud. You want growth that actually shows up in your own account, not just the business's. What you've actually built is a company that's getting bigger while quietly training you to expect less for yourself, one skipped pay run at a time.
62% of US small business owners have reduced or skipped their own pay at least once in the past year, and 21% have done it four times or more, according to Bluevine's 2026 research (Bluevine, 2026). "Things settling down" isn't a milestone that arrives on its own — it's a decision, and most businesses are structured so there's always a plausible reason to put it off one more month. Growing revenue without growing what lands in your own account isn't really growth. It's a bigger version of the same squeeze.
Mike Michalowicz's Profit First approach flips the usual order of operations. Instead of Sales minus Expenses equals Profit — where owner pay and profit are whatever's left after everything else — it forces Sales minus Profit (and owner pay) equals Expenses, by physically moving set percentages into separate accounts the moment money comes in.
Kevin didn't learn this lesson purely from the outside looking in. Even as a coach, he hired an Icehouse coach of his own to accelerate his growth — a reminder that this isn't about willpower or sacrifice; it's about having someone outside the business enforce a structure you won't reliably enforce on yourself, under pressure, every single month. He's also open with clients that his own run of nine companies founded or co-founded includes genuine failures as well as wins, and that the discipline of paying yourself properly is one of the lessons that cost him real money to learn the hard way, so his clients don't have to.
"Kevin's knowledge and intellect on all things business — no matter what industry it is — he just seems to find gems that you can focus on. I catch up with Kevin once a week and it is definitely the highlight of my week. He just sees different opportunities so clearly."
John Roberts
Co-owner & COO, Oragene
Paying yourself properly feels like it should wait until the business can "afford" it — but the business will always find something else to spend on if the money's sitting there to be found. This isn't for you if you've genuinely decided to reinvest everything deliberately for a defined period with a clear end date — that's a real strategy, not avoidance. It's for owners where "once things settle down" has quietly become the plan itself, with no date attached.
A cash management approach from Mike Michalowicz that allocates profit and owner pay first, as a fixed percentage of revenue, then runs expenses on what remains, rather than paying the owner last from whatever's left over.
The money isn't removed from the business — it moves to a separate account and stays there as profit and reserved owner pay, which forces more deliberate decisions about the remaining expenses.
Start with a modest, sustainable percentage you can actually hold to every month rather than an ambitious one you'll abandon after one tight month.
If you've paid everyone else properly this month except yourself, that's the number we fix first.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Your dashboard has too many numbers and no owner for most of them. Here is the Focus Metric Framework SME owners use to find the one number that actually drives growth this quarter.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Twelve million American businesses worth nearly $10 trillion need new owners within a decade - and most of them, as currently run, cannot be sold. Here is the three-part test that tells you whether yours is one of them, and what to fix first.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Bain found a 5 percent lift in customer retention can boost profits 25 to 95 percent. Here's the Cohort Retention Audit that reveals whether your growth is real or just replacing lost customers.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Research shows much of the feedback we receive is too comfortable to change anything. Here's the Pushback Test that reveals whether your business coach genuinely challenges you or just agrees.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
APA-published research found task switching can cost up to 40 percent of productive time. Here's the Work-in-Progress Cap that stops SME owners starting everything and finishing nothing.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Gartner found B2B buyers now complete 80 percent of their journey before talking to a vendor. Here's the Pitch Refresh Audit that stops your sales team pitching to a buyer who already knows.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Nielsen found 92 percent of consumers trust recommendations from people they know over any advertising. Here's the Proof Asset Audit that puts your own customers' stories to work instead.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Most leadership teams spend less than an hour a month on strategy, and half spend none at all. Here is the protected-time system that fixes it, and why accountability is the missing ingredient.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
93% of small business owners expect growth this year — but 75% no longer trust their own bank to fund it. Here's the Cash Flow Runway Check to close the gap.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most strategic plans die quietly by March — not from a bad plan, but from no system to keep it alive. Here's the 90-minute review that fixes it.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Nearly half of buyers already ask AI platforms to recommend a business like yours. Here's how to make sure you're the one they mention.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most SME owners discount before the buyer even objects — and call it good negotiating. Here's the sequence that stops you giving margin away for free.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Your Q4 plan will likely be forgotten by February unless something forces it back into view every week. Here's the 15-minute ritual that keeps it alive.
Friday, September 25, 2026
The smartest owners often have the biggest blind spots, because nobody around them dares to point them out. Here's how to find yours before they cost you.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Growth is supposed to make winning customers cheaper. For most SMEs it does the opposite. Here's the audit that catches it before it erodes your margin.