Profit First: A Simple System To Transform Any Business From A Cash-Eating Monster To A Money-Making Machine

Simply use the percentages in the Instant Assessment for your target allocations, but start at 1% allocation for the Profit Account, 50% for Owner’s Pay and 15% for the Tax Account. Use quarterly adjustments to step up to higher percentages and nudge your business closer to the TAPs recommended in this book.

2. Serve Sequentially – Always, always move money to your Profit Account first, then to your Owner Pay Account and then to your Tax Account, with what remains to expenses. Always in that order. No exceptions. Move it, stash it and let it accumulate. And if there isn’t enough money left for expenses? This does not mean you need to pull from the other a

It’s not the universe that knows how much we have in our bank accounts. It’s us.

download a printable copy from the Resources section at Mike Michalowicz.com.)

The Survival Trap is not about driving toward our vision. It is all about taking action, any action, to get out of crisis.

Getting that healthy business all boils down to one really, really simple formula: You must consistently spend less money than you make.

1. Use Small Plates – When money comes into your main operating account, immediately disperse it into different accounts in predetermined percentages. Each of these accounts has a different objective: one is for profit, one for owner pay, another for taxes and another for operating expenses. These are the four basic accounts and where you should get s

and by using this method you will be able to weed out people who are interested but not committed. When I posted this same message on Twitter, two people responded with interest within a few minutes. I deliberately did not respond—after all, a good accountability partner is persistent. You know what? I never heard from those two people again. And j

You probably already have one or two accounts with your bank (checking and savings). Keep the checking account as your Operating Expenses Account and set up Tax and Profit as savings accounts (these are simply holding bins), with Owner’s Pay as another checking account.