Stop Being the Brokest Person in Your Own Business (Here's How to Finally Pay Yourself Right)

Key Takeaways

• You didn't build this business just to pay everybody else and starve yourself. You deserve to be on your own payroll.
• Start with a modest living wage, then increase your pay as the business grows — not ahead of it.
• Reinvesting and paying yourself aren't enemies. With margin, you do both.
• Tithing on your business income isn't optional if you want God to trust you with more.
• Your business structure, local laws, and role in the company all matter. Get a real CPA and attorney — stop Googling your way through this.

Let me ask you something that might sting a little.

You built this business from nothing. Late nights. Early mornings. Sacrificed vacations, relationships, and sleep. Your team gets paid. Your vendors get paid. The IRS definitely gets paid. But when it comes to you — the person who started this whole thing — you're either paying yourself crumbs or nothing at all.

Family, that's not noble. That's a trap.

A recent study showed that nearly 30% of small business owners don't pay themselves a regular salary. And of the ones who do, most are underpaying themselves by tens of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, they're driving the same car from 2017 and telling themselves, "I'll pay myself when the business is bigger."

Sound familiar? Today we're fixing that. I'm breaking down exactly how to pay yourself as a business owner — the right way, at the right time — without starving your business or your family.

Let's get to work.

Why Most Business Owners Don't Pay Themselves (And Why That's Dangerous)

Real talk — I see this all the time. Entrepreneurs who are making real revenue but living like they're still broke. And it usually comes down to one of two things:

1. Fear. You're scared that if you take money out, the business won't survive.
2. Confusion. You genuinely don't know how to pay yourself properly.

Both are fixable. But here's what's not fixable — burning out because you built a business that feeds everyone except you. That's not stewardship. That's self-neglect.

"You can't pour from an empty cup. And you definitely can't build generational wealth from a business that doesn't pay its founder."

Your business exists to serve your life — not the other way around.

The 3 Questions Every Business Owner Asks About Paying Themselves

1. Should I Even Take a Salary From My Business?

If your business can support it — absolutely. You need to be on that spreadsheet, family.

Here's how to think about it:

• In the early days, pay yourself a modest living wage. Just enough to cover your basic household needs — rent, food, utilities, transportation. You're the last line on the budget, but you still need to be on it.
• As revenue grows, your pay grows with it. Not ahead of it. Not because you saw somebody on Instagram flexing. Because the numbers support it.
• Once the business is consistently profitable, you can layer in owner draws on top of your base salary based on actual realized profit.

I know business owners making $500,000 a year in revenue who pay themselves $40,000. And I know business owners making $150,000 who pay themselves $120,000. One is building something sustainable. The other is about to have a real bad quarter.

The key is this: your compensation should grow with the business, not ahead of it.

2. Can I Pay Myself If I'm Still Building Retained Earnings?

Yes. But there's a right way to do it depending on where you are.

If your business is debt-free:

• Pay yourself a salary based on what it would cost to replace you if you hired someone to do your job. That's your baseline.
• From your profit, put about 50% into retained earnings until you've built 3 to 6 months of operating capital.
• The rest? That's yours. No guilt. No guesswork.

If you're still paying off business debt:

• Stick to a living wage for your W-2. Keep it modest.
• Set aside 15-20% of even the smallest monthly profits for retained earnings.
• Everything else goes toward attacking that debt with intensity using the debt snowball method. Smallest balance first. Knock them out.
• Once the debt is clear, shift to building retained earnings aggressively and keep the rest.

How to Pay Yourself Based on Your Business Situation

Business Has Debt

Your Salary: Living wage only

Profit Split: 15-20% retained earnings, rest to debt payoff

Debt-Free, Building Reserves

Your Salary: Replacement cost salary

Profit Split: 50% retained earnings until 3-6 months saved

Debt-Free, Reserves Funded

Your Salary: Replacement cost + bonuses

Profit Split: Reinvest for growth + owner draws from profit

Pro tip: Always budget for future expenses — new equipment, software upgrades, team hires. You don't want those costs ambushing your profit and forcing you to skip your own paycheck.

3. What's the Best Way to Actually Pay Myself?

This depends on your business structure — LLC, S-Corp, sole proprietorship — and your local laws. This is exactly why I tell every business owner: get a real CPA. Not TurboTax. Not your cousin who "does taxes on the side." A certified professional who is legally required to work in your best interest.

That said, here's a simple framework most small business owners can start with:

• Set a modest W-2 salary that doesn't drain your cash flow
• Build the retained earnings habit using the splits above
• Take owner draws or bonuses based on actual, realized profit — not projections, not hope, not what you think next month will look like

If your income is unpredictable month to month, don't lock yourself into a salary that has you sweating in the lean months. Pay yourself through periodic draws instead. As revenue stabilizes, build in that baseline W-2 and schedule additional profit distributions into your business budget.

A consistent W-2 salary does three powerful things:

1. Stabilizes your personal finances so you can budget like a normal human being
2. Protects your business from unexpected overdraws
3. Forces you to think like a CFO, not just an owner

Once your budget, retained earnings, and reinvestments are in place, you're not robbing your business to pay yourself. You're leading with margin and being compensated for what that leadership is worth.

Reinvesting vs. Paying Yourself — It's Not Either/Or

I know what some of you are thinking. "Shouldn't I just reinvest everything back into the business?"

If you're in the early stages or paying off debt — yes, lean heavy into reinvestment. But not forever.

A healthy business does three things:

• Reinvests for growth — in people, systems, and tools
• Protects itself — with retained earnings and margin
• Pays the owner based on actual profit — not emotion, not ego, not what looks good on social media

It's not a choice between responsibility and reward. With margin, you get both.

The Wealth Secret Nobody Wants to Talk About

Now listen — I can't talk about paying yourself without talking about this. Before I pay myself, before I pay a single bill in my business, the first 10% goes back to God.

I know. The math doesn't make sense on paper. But I've never seen God let a generous person at their core go broke.

My company has made millions every single year since I've been on my own. And if I'm being honest with you, some of those years I couldn't explain how. But I believe it's because God sees my heart. He sees the generosity. And He said, "I can trust you with more."

So here's what I want you to do:

• Set up automatic tithing from your business income to your local church
• Create a "blessing others" fund so when God tells you to sow a seed, you can do it without checking your bank account
• Try it for 90 days and watch what happens

This ain't about math. It's about faith. And faith moves mountains that spreadsheets can't measure.

Your Action Plan Starting This Week

Here are the exact steps I need you to take:

Step 1: Determine your business's actual monthly profit. Not revenue — profit. What's left after every expense is paid.

Step 2: Set a modest W-2 salary for yourself based on what it would cost to replace you. If you can't afford that yet, start with a living wage.

Step 3: Build retained earnings. Target 3 to 6 months of operating expenses sitting in a business high yield savings account.

Step 4: Get a real financial team. A CPA who saves you money, a fee-only financial advisor who works in your best interest, and a business attorney who protects what you're building.

Step 5: Set up your tithe and giving system. First 10% off the top. Watch God work.

Step 6: Once your reserves are funded and your debt is clear, increase your pay through owner draws based on real profit. You earned it. Enjoy it — debt-free.

Conclusion

Look, family — you didn't start this business to be the brokest person on your own payroll.

Here's what we covered:

1. Pay yourself a salary that grows with the business, not ahead of it
2. Build retained earnings before you start taking big draws
3. Your pay method depends on your structure — get a real CPA involved
4. Reinvesting and paying yourself work together when you have margin
5. Tithing is the wealth secret that activates something no spreadsheet can explain

Here's your move: This week, sit down and calculate your actual monthly profit. Then set up a modest, consistent payment to yourself — even if it's small. You need to be on your own payroll. Period.

Now I want to hear from you: Are you currently paying yourself from your business? If not, what's been holding you back? Drop it in the comments — let's build together.

Keep building,

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