You’re Making $20K Months. So Why Are You Paying Yourself Like an Admin?

Same Revenue. Very Different Pay.

Let’s talk about something most business owners don’t say out loud:

You can be hitting consistent $20K months and still feel like you’re scraping by when you try to pay yourself.

Because two women can both be making $20K months.

But what they actually pay themselves? Worlds apart.

The Client Comparison That Says It All

Recently, I ran the numbers for two online service providers. Both experienced, both good at what they do.

✅ Similar niche

✅ Similar audience

✅ Equally busy, equally booked

But their personal pay?

• Client A: paying herself $3,000/month

• Client B: paying herself $6,500/month

Same revenue. Same level of demand.

Very different outcomes.

The Audit That Revealed It

It wasn’t about how hard they worked.

It was about pricing leaks, cost creep, and no pay planning.

CLIENT A LEAKS

🔻 Pricing Leaks:

• Set rates once and never reviewed them

• Only charged for direct delivery time - gave away admin, prep and client comms for free

• Offered discounts when sales felt slow

• No pay goal factored in

🔻 Cost Leaks:

• Contractors billing untracked hours

• Scope creep she wasn’t charging for

• Software stack nobody reviewed

🔻 Financial Management Leaks:

• Paid herself whatever was left over

• No monthly review of costs or margins

• No clear target for consistent personal pay

CLIENT B LEVERS

✨ Pricing Levers:

• Reviewed rates every quarter

• Priced offers with her pay goal built in

• Charged for the whole workload, not just sessions

✨ Cost Control Levers:

• Knew exactly what each offer cost to deliver

• Tracked contractor hours against budget

• Regularly pruned software costs

✨ Financial Leadership Levers:

• Set a monthly pay goal

• Used simple dashboards to see real profit

• Made decisions based on data, not gut feel

The Brutal Math

Client A was working 35+ hours a week to pay herself less than she’d make as an admin.

• Revenue: $20,000/month

• Delivery costs + team: $7,000

• Software + Admin: $3,500

• Overheads: $3,000

• Discounting killing margin $$$

• Paying herself whatever is left (around $3,000)

Client B planned for her pay first.

• Revenue: $20,000/month

• Delivery costs: $5,000 (planned and tracked)

• Software/Admin: $2,500 (lean and reviewed)

• Overheads: $1,500

• Personal pay goal: $6,500 every month

The Opportunity Cost

Client A lost personal income over 12 months?

$40,000+ 😱

That’s money she could have taken home - with the same revenue - if she’d priced properly, managed costs, and planned for her pay.

3 Lies That Keep Business Owners Underpaid

1️⃣ “Revenue = success”

➜ Truth: Revenue means nothing if you don’t keep it.

2️⃣ “I’ll just pay myself with what’s left”

➜ Truth: Pay is a planned cost, not an afterthought.

3️⃣ “My costs are fixed”

➜ Truth: Your delivery and team costs aren’t fixed. They’re something you can manage and control.

The Real Problem

If you’re making $15–30K months but:

• Can’t pay yourself consistently (or well)

• Don’t know what an offer really costs to deliver

• Feel nervous checking your profit margins

You don’t have a sales problem.

You have a visibility problem.

Your numbers aren’t here to make you feel bad.

They’re here to give you control.

How I Can Help

This is exactly why I offer the Pricing & Profit Audit.

A one-off, strategic review to:

✅ Calculate breakeven and profit pricing for your top 3 offers

✅ Uncover where profit leaks are hiding

✅ Build a plan for your actual pay goal

So you can stop transferring “whatever’s left” - and start paying yourself properly, every month.

Because revenue is great.

But if you’re not keeping it?

You’re working for everyone but yourself.

Ready to uncover what you're really earning - and map out what you could be?

👉 Click here to book your Pricing & Profit Audit

Because hoping for better margins doesn’t work.

Planning for them does.