Estimated Read Time: 3 mins

Hey Profit First Champions,

It’s Stephen Edwards from We Are Gro Accountants, and welcome back to another edition of the Profit First podcast and newsletter. Whether you’re tuning in via Spotify, YouTube, or reading along on Beehive, I’m glad you’re here.

As always, our mission is to help you not just survive in business—but thrive. Profit First isn’t just a system. It’s a philosophy that ensures your business supports you, not the other way around. We want you to earn what you deserve, build a sustainable team, and make empowered financial decisions with clarity.

This week’s episode is inspired by real client experiences and a deceptively simple question: Does your business work on paper before you try to make it work in real life?

We dive into how chasing “exceptional months” can skew decision-making—causing businesses to over-invest, over-hire, or rely on unsustainable income patterns. The antidote? Clarity through a simple paper exercise.

Workshop-style Insight:
Take a pen and paper (or a distraction-free digital notepad like Remarkable), and write out what a "decent but achievable" month looks like—say, £10,000 in revenue.

Then break it down:

Team Costs: e.g., £4,000 (40%)

Gross Profit: £6,000 (60%)

Overheads: £2,000 (20%)

Targeted Profit (Owner’s Pay): £4,000 (40%)

From there, compare your actuals. Are your team costs creeping up to 50%? Are overheads edging toward 30%? If so, your margin is being squeezed, and your profits are suffering. But identifying this gap is the first step to correcting it.

This simple planning exercise leads to more strategic decisions and sets the stage for a more profitable future—on paper and in practice.

Before you reach for complex software or dashboards, grab that pen. Start with:

What does a normal month look like for your business?

What’s your income goal?

How much do you need to earn personally?

What are your current team costs and overheads?

Then compare your real numbers against this ideal. This clarity is what allows Profit First principles to work their magic.

If you’re unsure where to start or what your benchmarks should be, we’re here to help—client or not. You can also visit our website at wearegro.co.uk and explore our “How We Work” page for more guidance. You’ll find tools like the Instant Profit Assessment to give you a quick pulse check on your finances.

You don’t need fancy tools to build a profitable business—just clarity and consistency. Start with a simple piece of paper. Understand your true numbers. Then use Profit First to move from reactive to proactive finance.

Until next week—keep putting Profit First!

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant & Business Coach
We Are Gro Accountants

P.S. If you found this helpful, feel free to share with a fellow business owner who could benefit. Let’s grow profitably—together.