Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 8 Minutes

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

Welcome to The Gro Academy—this is your introduction to Profit First.

Now, this is designed for two types of people.

Firstly, if you’re completely new to Profit First, the aim is that by the end of this, you’ll clearly understand what it is, why it matters, and how it can genuinely improve your business.

Secondly, if you’ve decided to work with us, or you’re about to, then this is your starting point. We’ll be implementing this with you step by step, but what I want to do here is give you some quick wins so you can get started straight away.

Either way, there’s value here.

Because the reality is, most business owners don’t necessarily have a knowledge problem—they have a structure problem.

They might be generating revenue, they might even be growing, but there’s no clear system behind the money. And that’s where things start to fall apart.

That’s exactly what Profit First is designed to fix.

Profit First comes from a book by Mike Michalowicz.

He built and sold a successful business for millions and believed he had the formula cracked. But when he reinvested into multiple businesses, everything went wrong.

He lost the money.

There’s a moment he talks about where his daughter gave him her piggy bank because things had got that bad. And that’s when he stepped back and asked:

Where do business owners actually go wrong with money?

What he discovered was simple but powerful:

Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

Just because your revenue is growing doesn’t mean your business is healthy.

We’re all taught the same formula:

Sales – Expenses = Profit

On paper, it makes perfect sense.

But in reality, what happens is:

Expenses come first

Profit comes last

And when profit comes last, it often doesn’t happen at all.

Profit First flips that:

Sales – Profit = Expenses

Now, at first, this can feel a bit unrealistic or even too simple.

But if you think about it logically—especially if you were starting a business from scratch—it actually makes perfect sense.

If your goal is to earn £40,000 and you expect to generate £100,000 in revenue, then naturally you’d say:

That leaves £60,000 for expenses.

That’s Profit First in action.

One of the biggest issues is behaviour.

If you’ve got £10,000 sitting in your bank account, it feels like you can spend £10,000.

So what happens?

Costs expand

Spending increases

Profit disappears

This is why so many businesses—despite decent revenue—are still struggling with cash flow.

In fact, the majority of businesses are surviving on some level, and cash flow is usually the core issue.

Profit First addresses this by putting structure and boundaries around your money.

A simple way to understand this is the envelope system.

If you had £500 personally, you might split it into envelopes for:

Rent

Food

Bills

Spending

Savings

Each pound has a job.

Profit First works the same way—but using bank accounts or pots instead of envelopes.

When money comes in, you allocate it into different categories so you always know:

What’s yours

What’s for tax

What’s for expenses

At a minimum, you should have:

All revenue comes in here. Nothing gets spent directly from this account.

This is your reward as the business owner.

This is not your wage—this is a separate pot that builds over time and is typically taken as a bonus quarterly.

This is what you live on.

It’s your regular income—the equivalent of a salary.

Money set aside so you’re never caught off guard by a tax bill.

This is what’s left to run the business.

This should always be separate.

Mixing VAT with your main account is one of the most common causes of cash flow stress.

The key idea here is:

Profit, Owner’s Pay, and Tax are all for you as the owner.

Most people cover the first two.

Very few consistently build a separate profit pot.

Let’s say £1,000 comes into your business.

Instead of seeing £1,000 to spend, you split it.

For example:

A percentage goes to profit

A percentage goes to owner’s pay

A percentage goes to tax

The remainder goes to expenses

You do this weekly or fortnightly.

And over time, this creates a rhythm.

You stop guessing and start knowing.

Once this system is in place, your behaviour changes.

You become:

More disciplined with spending

More aware of your numbers

More intentional with decisions

We’ve seen businesses:

Become profitable for the first time in years

Save significant amounts very quickly

Grow while actually working less

It doesn’t eliminate challenges—but it makes them far easier to manage.

If you’re not ready to fully implement everything yet, start here:

Line by line.

Ask:

Is this a must-have?

Is it a nice-to-have?

Or is it an investment that should generate a return?

Most businesses will find immediate savings here.

Even just 1%.

It’s not about the amount—it’s about building the habit.

If you’re VAT registered, this is one of the biggest wins you can make immediately.

Use a bank that allows multiple pots (Starling, Monzo, etc.).

Keep it simple—but keep it separate.

Move your profit into an account that isn’t easy to dip into.

Out of sight really does mean out of mind.

Most business owners are working incredibly hard—but not always seeing the rewards.

Some are:

Earning less than their team

Constantly worrying about cash flow

Waking up in the middle of the night thinking about the business

Profit First is about changing that.

It’s about creating a system that helps you:

Make more money

Reduce stress

Build a business that actually supports your life

Because ultimately, that’s what this is all about.

If you’d like help implementing this in your business, feel free to reach out:

[email protected]

Until next week—keep putting Profit First.

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant & Business Coach

Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

Hi Everyone,

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter. This week, I want to talk about why working harder isn’t the answer and how focusing on the vital few can completely transform your business.

Most business owners think the answer is simple: work harder, work longer, and success will follow.

And to be fair—there is a time and place for that.

In the early days of building a business, I did exactly that. I was working 60-hour weeks, saying yes to every opportunity, doing whatever it took to pay the bills and get things off the ground.

That level of effort can get you moving.

But it won’t get you scaling.

At some point, working harder stops being the solution—and starts becoming the problem.

I hit this myself when the business was around 30–40% of the size it is today.

Everything went through me. Every client, every decision, every problem.

And that’s when I realised:
I’d built a business that depended entirely on me.

That creates a ceiling.

To grow, I had to:

Build a team

Empower people

Let go of control

Not everyone liked it. Some clients even left.

But it was necessary to create a business that could actually scale—and support the life I wanted.

Here’s the real shift.

As a business owner, you’ve got endless options:

Books to read

Podcasts to listen to

Ideas to implement

Projects to start

It’s overwhelming.

But the truth is:

Not everything is equally important.

You need to distinguish between:

The Trivial Many – the majority of tasks that feel productive

The Vital Few – the small number of actions that actually move the needle

This is where the Pareto Principle comes in.

If you’ve got 10 key projects:

2 of them will likely drive 80% of your results

And those few activities?
They can be up to 16x more impactful than the rest.

The problem isn’t lack of effort.

It’s lack of focus.

Trying to do everything leads to:

Burnout

Overwhelm

Slower progress

Whereas focusing on the vital few leads to:

Faster results

Better decisions

More clarity

If you’re not sure where to start, here’s a simple structure:

1. Define Your Vision

What does your 3-year future look like?

What needs to happen for you to feel successful?

2. Break It Down

What needs to happen in the next 12 months?

Then the next 90 days?

3. Focus Weekly

What are the few key actions this week that actually move you closer to that vision?

That’s how strategic business owners operate.

You don’t need to:

Read every book

Listen to every podcast

Act on every idea

Just like you can’t watch everything on Netflix…

You don’t need to do everything in your business.

You just need to focus on what matters right now.

If you take one thing from this week, let it be this:

Success doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from doing what matters most.

Focus on the vital few—and everything else becomes easier.

If you’d like help identifying your vital few or implementing Profit First in your business, feel free to reach out:

[email protected]

Have a great week.

Stephen Edwards

Profit First Accountant & Business Coach

Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

Watch the Full Video here

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

A lot of business owners start their journey because they want more freedom — more time, more flexibility, and more control over their lives.

But what often happens is the opposite.

The business grows, the workload increases, and suddenly the owner becomes the most overworked person in the company. Instead of having freedom, they feel trapped.

So the big question becomes:

How do you build a business that allows you to work less while still earning more?

The answer lies in building the right systems and structure so that the business does not depend on you for every decision.

The real goal of business ownership isn’t just revenue growth.

It’s about building a business that supports your life — not one that consumes it.

Many entrepreneurs believe they need to be involved in everything for the business to succeed. But in reality, that creates a bottleneck.

When the owner is the bottleneck:

Every decision needs their approval

Progress slows down

Growth becomes limited

To achieve real freedom, the business must be able to operate effectively without the owner being involved in every detail.

A useful way to think about this is as a progression through four stages.

Before anything else, the fundamentals must be clear.

This includes having a clear vision, understanding your numbers, defining your values, and creating the right team structure.

Without these foundations, growth becomes chaotic rather than strategic.

Once the foundation is in place, the next step is building systems.

This includes:

A scorecard to track the key numbers that show if the business is healthy

A marketing system that consistently generates leads

Strong financial management, including profitability and pricing

Profit First plays a key role here because it helps you stay in control of your finances and ensure the business is actually profitable.

One of the biggest shifts happens when the owner stops being involved in everything.

This often involves hiring an operations manager or implementing systems that allow the business to run smoothly day to day.

Instead of focusing on delivery and operations, the owner can start focusing on higher-value activities such as strategy, leadership, or growth.

This is the ultimate outcome.

When the right systems, team, and financial structure are in place, the business can operate successfully without constant involvement from the owner.

Freedom might look different for everyone.

For some people it means taking extended time off.
For others it means working fewer hours or focusing only on the parts of the business they enjoy.

But the key point is this:

You have the choice.

Do you have a clear financial dashboard?

Your Profit First accounts give you a real-time view of the health of your business, but it’s still important to track key numbers regularly.

A simple weekly scorecard should include:

Revenue and profit

Cash in the bank

Debt levels

Payroll as a percentage of revenue

Operating expenses

Without tracking these numbers consistently, it becomes very difficult to make good decisions or correct course early.

Working less and earning more isn’t about doing less work.

It’s about building the right systems, team, and financial structure so the business doesn’t rely entirely on you.

When that happens, your business becomes what it was meant to be:

A vehicle that supports your life — not one that controls it.

If you’d like help implementing Profit First in your business or building systems that give you more freedom, feel free to reach out.

[email protected]

Until next week — keep putting Profit First.

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant & Business Coach

Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 7 Minutes

Watch the full video here.

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

This week’s newsletter is based on a real coaching conversation with a business owner.

The business is growing.
Revenue is up.
The team is bigger.
The numbers are larger than ever before.

But cashflow feels tight.

There’s pressure around:

VAT payments

PAYE

Supplier bills

Wages

Paying themselves

And the natural conclusion is:

“I’ve got a cashflow problem.”

But here’s what I explained:

Cashflow problems are usually a symptom. Not the root cause.

Think of cashflow like the warning light on your car dashboard.

The light isn’t the problem.
It’s telling you something underneath needs attention.

When I reviewed 18 months of this client’s figures on our very first call, the picture became clear very quickly:

Yes, cashflow was tight.

But the real issue?

The margins were too thin.

And when margins are too thin, everything feels fragile.

There’s no breathing space.
No buffer.
No room for mistakes.

You’re one unexpected bill away from stress.

Here’s something most business owners don’t realise:

Growth doesn’t fix financial weaknesses.
It magnifies them.

If your margins are tight at £500k turnover,
they’ll be painfully tight at £1m turnover.

More revenue means:

More payroll

More overhead

More tax exposure

More working capital required

If the profitability engine isn’t strong enough, growth simply increases the pressure.

Once we established it wasn’t “just” cashflow, the better question became:

Why is the business not producing enough profit?

And this is where proper analysis matters.

At Gro Profit First Accountants, when we do a Profit Assessment, we’re looking at:

Gross profit margins

Net profit margins

Payroll as a % of revenue

Overheads as a % of revenue

Revenue per team member

Owner’s pay compared to industry norms

Without benchmarking, you’re operating in the dark.

Let me give you a simple analogy.

My son runs the 100 metres in around 11.4 seconds.

Is that good?

It depends who he’s racing.

If he’s compared against runners doing 14 seconds, he looks exceptional.

If he’s competing nationally, the benchmark changes.

In business, it’s exactly the same.

If your peers are running 20% net margins and you’re running at 5%, that’s not a cashflow issue.

That’s a profitability issue.

And until you understand what’s realistically achievable in your industry, you’ll normalise underperformance.

In my experience, profitability issues normally come from one (or more) of these areas:

This is the big one.

A 10% discount doesn’t reduce profit by 10%.
It can reduce profit by 30–50%, depending on your margin.

Many business owners underprice because they:

Fear losing work

Compete on price

Haven’t reviewed pricing in years

But inflation, wages, and supplier costs move — your pricing must too.

Occasional strategic discounting is fine.

Permanent discounting destroys margin.

If your team discounts without understanding margin impact, you’re quietly eroding profitability.

Payroll is usually the largest cost in most service businesses.

Ask yourself:

Is every team member operating at the right level?

Are senior people doing junior work?

Do you have clear productivity targets?

Is revenue per employee healthy?

A bloated or misaligned structure creates constant financial pressure.

The business owner I mentioned is bringing in a lean consultant.

Why?

Because inefficient workflow costs money.

Toyota built its reputation on Kaizen — continuous improvement.

Small inefficiencies repeated daily become large financial drains over 12 months.

Most business owners look at their bank balance and make emotional decisions.

But your bank balance does not equal profit.

Without:

Clear allocation systems

Regular KPI tracking

Margin analysis

A structured Profit First system

You are reacting instead of leading.

Profit First works because it uses behaviour, not willpower.

Parkinson’s Law says:

The more of something we have, the more we consume.

If you see £80,000 in your bank account, you feel comfortable.

If you see £12,000 available for expenses because profit, tax and owner’s pay have already been allocated — you become more resourceful.

Profit First forces discipline automatically.

It creates artificial scarcity in the right way.

It strengthens the engine before the car breaks down.

Now, to be fair, sometimes cashflow genuinely is about timing.

For example:

Large corporate clients paying in 60–90 days

Project-based businesses with uneven billing cycles

Seasonal businesses

But if you are:

Getting paid regularly

Not operating on long credit terms

Not highly seasonal

Then persistent cashflow stress usually points back to profit.

If any of this resonates, here are 5 things to do immediately:

1. Calculate your true net profit margin for the last 12 months.
2. Review your pricing — when was the last increase?
3. Check payroll as a percentage of revenue.
4. Identify any “automatic” discounts being given.
6. Separate profit from your main account if you haven’t already.

Even small margin improvements create massive breathing space over time.

If your car keeps breaking down, you don’t just reset the warning light.

You lift the bonnet.

Cashflow pressure is stressful. I get that.

But if you fix the profit engine, the cashflow warning light often disappears on its own.

If you’d like help reviewing your numbers properly, you can reach me directly:

 [email protected]

Let’s make sure your business is not just growing — but profitable, stable, and giving you the freedom you actually want.

Have a great week.

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant and Business Coach
Gro Profit First Accountants

Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

Hi Everyone,

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

This week, I want to bring it back to real-world Profit First stories — straight from the fire.

I’ve recently been working with a business that had grown to nearly £1 million in revenue. They built a team of over a dozen people. On the surface, everything looked like success.

For the first few years, it was happy days.

But then came the squeeze.

This is classic over-trading. Revenue grows, the team expands, overheads increase, and the pressure to constantly win new business becomes intense. Margins get tighter. Cash gets tighter. Decision-making becomes reactive rather than strategic.

The numbers ran away from them.

And this is the key point:

Growth without financial control is not sustainable growth.

I always talk about building a profitable and sustainable business — not just a growing one.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Profit First is that it’s something you implement when you’re struggling.

It isn’t.

In fact, the best time to implement Profit First is when things are going well.

Why?

Because that’s when you can build the habits and systems before pressure hits.

Think about it like health. The NHS largely deals with problems once they exist. But prevention — good habits, discipline, structure — is what keeps you out of trouble in the first place.

If your business is in a good place right now, don’t take it for granted.

That’s the time to:

Understand your margins properly

Track trends monthly (not just yearly)

Build cash reserves

Put clear controls and KPIs in place

Have regular financial conversations that challenge assumptions

Because for many businesses, two bad months can be enough to cause serious damage.

One of the biggest benefits of Profit First isn’t just paying yourself more.

It’s building certainty.

When you have:

Money set aside for tax

Money set aside for VAT

Money set aside for overheads

A profit pot

A small “rainy day” reserve

You operate differently.

You think strategically.

You don’t hire from panic.
You don’t cut staff from fear.
You don’t make decisions from scarcity.

Without reserves, every decision feels stressful.

With reserves, you make calm, deliberate choices.

That’s the difference between reacting and leading.

In this particular case, because the structure wasn’t in place early enough:

Team members had to be let go

Culture was affected

Debt had to be taken on

Large tax bills created personal financial pressure

We’ve also recently spoken to someone who received a very large surprise tax bill because there had been no proactive tax planning from their previous accountant. They now have to finance that personally and make lifestyle changes to deal with it.

That’s not a position any business owner wants to be in.

But it’s avoidable.

One of the most powerful elements of implementing Profit First properly isn’t just the bank accounts.

It’s the accountability.

When we work with clients one-to-one, we typically meet quarterly. Larger businesses may meet monthly for CFO-style support.

Those regular conversations force you to step back and ask:

Is the trend healthy?

Are margins tightening?

Is payroll creeping too high?

Are we becoming too reliant on new clients?

If a business trends in the wrong direction for too many months, something must change.

But you can only spot that early if you’re reviewing consistently.

If you’re brand new to Profit First, start small.

Set aside 1% of revenue into a separate profit account.

Build the habit.

But if you want to implement it properly — with the correct percentages for your industry and stage of business — it’s important to get the structure right from the beginning.

Starting with unrealistic percentages can cause unnecessary pressure and make the system feel unsustainable.

Profit First should be:

Realistic

Challenging

Sustainable

Aligned to your business model

If your revenue is growing, don’t assume everything is fine.

That’s often the most dangerous stage.

The goal isn’t just growth.

The goal is a profitable, sustainable business that works for you — not one that traps you in stress, debt, and constant firefighting.

If you’d like help implementing Profit First properly, feel free to reach out.

[email protected]

Until next week, keep putting Profit First.

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant and Business Coach
Gro Profit First Accountants

Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 5 Minutes

Hi Everyone,

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit Accountant Newsletter.

This week, I want to share two things with you.

First, a very practical Profit First action you can implement immediately.
Second, a powerful mindset shift inspired by Steve Jobs that could transform how you spend your time as a business owner.

Let’s start with the practical.

If you’re not yet fully implementing Profit First, or you’re just getting started, there is one thing you absolutely must do before anything else:

Separate your VAT.

It sounds simple. It is simple.

But it is also where I see more businesses go wrong than anywhere else.

VAT is not your money.

If you’re waiting for your quarterly VAT bill and it feels like a surprise…
If you’re scrambling when your accountant tells you what’s due…
If you haven’t been setting it aside weekly, fortnightly, or at the very least monthly…

Then you’re not running a mature finance function.

And I say that with respect — not criticism.

This is where businesses get caught out. This is where cash flow collapses. This is where unnecessary stress creeps in.

So here’s your starting point:

Every week (ideally), or at least monthly

Calculate the VAT element of your income

Move it into a separate account immediately

That money belongs to the government. Not you.

Once you’ve done that, here’s your next small step:

Let’s say you invoiced £12,000 and £2,000 of that is VAT.
You’re left with £10,000.

Start with just 1% profit on what remains.

That’s £100.

Set it aside.

That’s how habits begin.

When we work properly with clients, we go much deeper. We analyse two years of financial data. We calculate proper allocation percentages for:

Profit

Owner’s Pay

Tax (personal and corporate)

VAT

Operating Expenses

Cost of Goods Sold (if relevant)

But if you want to start today — start with VAT and 1% profit.

Small actions build powerful momentum.

Now let’s move to something more strategic.

I recently revisited a story shared by Kevin O’Leary about Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was known for being driven, ambitious, and extremely focused. Not necessarily warm and fuzzy — but intensely clear about results.

And he categorised work into just two types:

Signal or Noise.

Signal = Activities that move you towards your goals.
Noise = Everything else.

That’s it.

He aimed to spend 80% of his time on signal.

Now think about your week.

How much of it is signal?
How much of it is noise?

Most business owners fall into two camps:

Head down, constantly busy on the tools.

Trying to “work on the business” but overwhelmed by options, distractions, and information overload.

We live in a world of constant distraction.
Notifications. Social media. Podcasts. Opinions. Advice.

Too much choice destroys focus.

So here’s your clarity tool for 2026:

Ask yourself every day:

What is the one activity that moves me materially closer to my goal?

Is it:

Reviewing your numbers?

Hiring the right person?

Fixing your pricing?

Having key sales conversations?

Improving your marketing system?

Or is it rearranging your inbox?

Your job is not to find a better productivity app.

Your job is to eliminate noise.

Say no more often.
Protect your focus.
Design your week intentionally.

If you can consistently spend more time on signal activities, your growth will accelerate — without needing to work longer hours.

If you are VAT registered and not separating VAT weekly or monthly — fix that immediately.

Start with 1% profit on remaining income. Build the habit.

Identify your top three signal activities for this quarter.

Eliminate one major source of noise this week.

Simple. Practical. Powerful.

If you want help implementing Profit First properly — with accountability, structure, and a clear roadmap — just reply to this email or contact me directly:

[email protected]

Let’s make 2026 the year you focus on signal, build real profit, and stop running your business on stress.

Have a great week.

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant and Business Coach
Gro Profit First Accountants

Hi Everyone,

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

This week I want to talk about something that rarely gets discussed properly in business — time away, boundaries, and rewarding yourself without guilt.

I’ve just come back from a short break, and it really brought something into sharp focus for me. I speak to a lot of business owners, across all industries, and one pattern comes up again and again:

They are exhausted.
They feel trapped.
And they haven’t taken proper time out for years.

So let me ask you something upfront:

Not a weekend where you checked emails.
Not a “holiday” where you were still thinking about work.
But real time away.

Most business owners tell me the same things:

“I’ll take time off when things calm down.”

“The business needs me.”

“I can’t afford to step away.”

“If I stop, everything stops.”

And on the surface, those reasons feel logical. But dig a little deeper and what’s really happening is this:

The business is running you — not the other way around.

That’s not a failure. It’s incredibly common. But it is a warning sign.

Because if your business can’t survive without you for a few days, then it certainly can’t support the lifestyle you started it for in the first place.

Let’s get one thing straight.

This is not about luxury holidays or weeks off at a time. That comes later.

It starts with small pockets of protected time.

For me, Mondays are sacred. I’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth repeating.

Monday is not a delivery day.
It’s not a firefighting day.
It’s a thinking, planning, and strategy day.

That space allows me to:

Zoom out

Make better decisions

Plan properly for the week ahead

Work on the business, not just in it

During the week, I also deliberately create space by doing things like:

Going to the gym

Using the sauna

Going for long walks

This isn’t time wasting. This is where your subconscious works through challenges, opportunities, and ideas in the background. Some of the best decisions you’ll ever make won’t happen at your desk.

So ask yourself:

Where are you creating space in your week — if at all?

If you’re currently working six or seven days a week, this is the first real milestone:

Free up your weekends completely.

A weekend that’s “a bit of work and a bit of rest” is not rest.

Checking emails.
Doing admin.
“Just doing a bit of learning.”
Listening to work podcasts all weekend.

It all keeps your brain switched on.

If this is you, give yourself permission to:

Move learning into the week

Create boundaries around your free time

Stop pretending that half-working weekends count as rest

Yes, I know this is hard. Especially if you’re a learner with a growth mindset. I’m exactly the same.

But the problem is — learning has no natural limit. It will consume all your available time unless you create boundaries.

This is where Profit First really comes into its own.

Profit First is not just about numbers.
It’s not just about bank accounts and percentages.

It’s a permission system.

It gives you:

Visibility

Control

And most importantly, confidence

Confidence that the business can afford to reward you.

When I took my recent break, it was paid for entirely from our Profit Distribution pot. Completely guilt-free. That money had already been set aside.

This is exactly how it’s meant to work.

Think about shareholders in a large company:

Their salary is their salary

Dividends are a bonus on top

Profit First allows you to treat yourself the same way.

If all of this feels overwhelming, here’s the simplest possible place to start.

Set aside 1% of your real revenue.

Real revenue means:

Revenue after direct costs (like stock, materials, or cost of goods sold)

Not overheads

Not wages

Put that 1% into a separate account.
Ideally one you don’t log into regularly.

Then forget about it.

Check it again in three months.

If you can run your business on 100% of your revenue, you can run it on 99%.

And those small weekly amounts add up far quicker than you expect.

That money is there to be enjoyed.
Not hoarded.
Not reinvested.
Not justified.

Enjoyed.

Let me challenge you.

When was the last time you reviewed your percentages?

Comfort leads to stagnation.
Progress creates momentum.

Businesses don’t usually fail because of one big mistake — they drift because nothing changes.

Ask yourself:

Could my profit percentage be higher?

What would doubling it over the next few years look like?

What needs to change to make that possible?

This is exactly why we create custom Profit Plans for our clients.

We don’t benchmark you against “average”.
We benchmark you against best-in-class businesses in your industry.

Then we create a realistic, achievable roadmap — not overnight transformation, but consistent progress.

Your business should not trap you.
It should not exhaust you.
And it should not rely on sacrifice forever.

Your business should:

Fund your life

Reward your effort

Give you choices

Give you time

Profit First is the mechanism that makes that possible.

So here’s your final question for this week:

If you truly gave yourself permission, what would you use your profit distributions for?

Write it down.
Talk about it with your partner.
Get excited about it.

That’s how real change starts.

If you’d like help putting this into practice, just reach out.

All the best,
Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant and Business Coach
Gro Profit First Accountants
 [email protected]

Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 8 Minutes

Hi Everyone,

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

As we head into Week 3 of 2026, there’s still plenty of time to step back and build a business plan that gives you clarity, direction, and a way to measure real progress.

Too often, planning gets neglected because people think it needs to be perfect or take too long. But a rough plan is better than no plan. That’s why this week we’re diving into a simple but powerful framework: the 8-Question Business Plan.

This approach works whether you’re a solo founder or running a growing team. You can do it in half a day, and it might be the most impactful thing you do this quarter.

Watch the full video here

Set aside 2–4 hours, block distractions, and get version one done. Planning is about clarity, not perfection.

These are the non-negotiable beliefs that guide how your business operates—how you hire, how you serve customers, and how you make decisions.

Think About:

What behaviours are rewarded in your team?

What traits annoyed you in past hires or clients?

What would someone need to “get” to succeed in your business?

Example: Our core values at Gro are “KAN”: Continuous Improvement, Above-the-Line Thinking, and No Eeyores. It sets the tone for how we show up and who we choose to work with.

Your core values create alignment, culture, and clarity. Start with 3 strong ones and refine over time.

This is your purpose, your niche, and your reason for existing. It defines who you help and how you help them best.

Think About:

What product or service do you do best?

Who are your ideal customers?

What’s the bigger mission behind the business?

Avoid trying to be everything to everyone. Focus wins. Whether you're the best dog groomer for nervous rescue pets or the go-to marketing coach for yoga instructors—clarity here is powerful.

This is your “north star.” It helps you reverse-engineer where you need to be in 3 years, 1 year, and even this quarter.

Think About:

What would you be proud to have built?

How much revenue/profit would make a real difference?

What would your ideal role look like?

Don’t stress about getting it perfect. If 10 years feels too far, aim for 5. Write something ambitious but exciting—and revisit it annually.

A lack of clear marketing is why many businesses struggle. You need a plan that builds trust, attracts leads, and sets you apart.

Your marketing strategy has three key parts:

Think About:

Your customer experience

Your process

Your background or expertise

Outline your service journey in 3–7 steps. Make it visual if possible. This builds confidence and clarity.

Example: “If you don’t save at least £1,000 in tax, you don’t pay.” Guarantees build trust and help you stand out.

This is where you start connecting the vision to reality. What does the business look like in 2029?

Think About:

Revenue and profit numbers

Team size and roles

Number of clients, locations, or product lines

What are you doing day-to-day?

This gives you a clearer picture to share with your team or investors. It’s also your benchmark for growth.

Zoom into 2026. What must happen for this to be a successful year?

Think About:

Key goals: New product launch? Team hire? New location?

Revenue and profit targets

Strategic projects

Limit yourself to 1–7 priorities. Focus on impact. If it doesn’t move you closer to your 3-year picture, it doesn’t make the cut.

This is where strategy meets execution. Your “rocks” are the big things you commit to finishing in the next 90 days.

Think About:

What 2–5 outcomes would move you closer to your 1-year goals?

What must happen before March ends?

Schedule a 90-day planning session every quarter. Use a “rocks first” mindset—prioritise the big stuff before getting buried in day-to-day tasks.

No plan is complete without acknowledging the roadblocks. These are the hidden weights slowing you down.

Think About:

Are you lacking time, cash, team, or leads?

What’s draining your energy?

What are you avoiding?

Use the 80/20 rule. A few issues often cause most of the frustration. Identify the top 2–3—and commit to solving them this quarter.

Here’s the truth: most plans end up buried in a drawer or desktop folder. The key is follow-through.

That’s why we meet many of our clients quarterly to review their goals, track financial progress, and reset their rocks.

In 2026, we’re launching new Accountability Coaching programs that are affordable and flexible—even if you’re early-stage. More info coming soon!

If you want a copy of our 2-page template, just drop me an email:
[email protected]

Make this the year you plan like a pro and execute like a leader. Your future self will thank you.

All the best,
Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant and Business Coach
Gro Profit First Accountants

P.S. If you complete your 8-question plan, I’d love to see it. Email it to me or book a 15-minute review call—let’s keep you on track!

Welcome to This Week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter!

Estimated Read Time: 3 Minutes

Hi Everyone,

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

As 2025 wraps up, I want to share something that’s resonated deeply with me this year and will shape my approach for 2026. Every year, I choose a theme—a guiding principle that keeps me grounded and focused through all the ups and downs. And honestly, I find it much more effective than setting short-term goals or dopamine-charged New Year’s resolutions that fade by February.

We still set 10-year visions, 3-year and 1-year targets, and 90-day goals—but the reality for many business owners is that those goals get buried under endless to-do lists. That’s why a strong theme can provide clarity and energy that lasts.

You might have heard my 2025 theme was “Less is More.” It was about simplifying, cutting through the noise, and focusing on the few things that make the biggest impact (hello, 80/20 rule!).

Now, for 2026, my new theme is this:

“Make Your Business Boring.”

Yes, you read that right.

I know it sounds uninspiring, but let me explain: a boring business is a brilliant business.

Here’s the truth: if your business feels too “exciting,” it often means too much change, too many ideas, and not enough consistency. And that kills progress.

As entrepreneurs, we love learning, creating, experimenting—new apps, new tools, new services (I’m a fan of AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Replit, Manus, Sintra). But constantly chasing shiny objects just feeds our dopamine, while distracting us from building solid foundations.

I’m someone who comes up with 10 new ideas a week. But I’ve learned that great businesses aren’t built on chaos. They’re built on:

Consistency

Predictability

Systems

Structure

Look at McDonald’s: they’ve mastered consistency. Two-thirds of their menu rarely changes. They innovate, yes—but only in small, systemised ways. That’s what creates scalability.

If you’ve grown from £250K to £500K in revenue and now feel stuck, you might be hitting what I call a Ceiling of Complexity. It’s where your systems break down and everything feels harder.

To break through it, you need to:

Systemise

Simplify

Structure your team

Focus on predictability

Predictable businesses avoid surprises, manage cash flow better, and deliver better service.

This summer in Florida, my son and I got obsessed with table tennis. We’re both competitive, so I started learning flashy shots on YouTube. But I kept losing. Why? I lost consistency.

When I went back to basics—solid backhand returns, safe play, staying in the game—I started winning. Then I added a few flourishes when needed. That’s how you win in business too. The “boring” backhand wins 80% of the time.

Don’t get me wrong—I love innovation. AI is going to transform everything. You must think about how the future will affect your business model, your team, and your customers.

But most of your time should be focused on what’s working now. That’s where the profits and predictability lie.

Every time a new idea excites you, ask yourself:

Does this make my business more boring (aka systemised, predictable)?

Or is it just adding noise and excitement?

Am I doubling down on what’s already working?

As we head into Christmas, I want to wish you all a fantastic break and thank you for being part of this amazing community.

In January, I’ll be running our Business Planning Workshop—a great way to start 2026 with clarity. I’ll be sharing full details soon.

Until then, I hope you get some rest, reconnect with family, and come back ready to build your best (and most boring) year yet!

Warm regards,

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant & Business Coach
[email protected]

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

Hi Everyone,

It’s Stephen Edwards from Gro Profit First Accountants, and welcome to this week’s Profit First Accountant Newsletter.

Are You Aiming Too Low? Time to Double Your Target

This week, I want to talk about a powerful mindset shift—doubling your income target and the real value behind it.

At a recent mastermind with about a dozen business owners, one woman shared her income goal. While I won't reveal the exact figure, the room's consensus was clear—it was too low. What stood out was that she wasn’t just sharing her target; she was almost asking for permission to want more.

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

Too often, we compare ourselves to others, and it drains our energy. Comparison leads to scarcity thinking and makes us feel like we’re behind—even when we’ve made massive progress. Instead, reflect on how far you’ve come. Look back 12 months or even three years. You’ll likely surprise yourself.

Set a Real Income Target—And Make It Personal

If you don’t have an income target yet, you need one. Don’t just pull a figure out of thin air—cost it out. What do you need for your lifestyle, family, holidays, and future? Once you’ve got that number, ask yourself: Is this limiting me?

A few years ago, I did exactly this and realised I was capping my own potential. So, I doubled my income target—not because I “needed” more, but because I realised it would require me to grow and create more value.

Money = Value Creation

Money isn’t just about personal gain. It’s a reflection of how much value you’re providing to others. So when you limit your income goals, you may also be limiting the impact you’re capable of making.

Growth Is Fun. Growth Is Freedom.

What helped me emotionally connect to a higher target was giving. The more I earn, the more I can do—for my family, for causes I care about, and for building a buffer that provides peace of mind. The universe is always expanding—and our goals should do the same.

Your Mind Will Tune In to the Target You Set

Here’s the kicker: your brain is always looking for solutions. Set a low target, and it’ll find low-return paths. Set a bigger goal, and your thinking shifts. You read more, network differently, invest in better strategies. That’s the power of frequency tuning.

Takeaway of the Week

Don’t undervalue your worth. Set a goal that excites and challenges you—and maybe even scares you a little. Then go out and make it real.

If you’ve got questions or want to chat more about how Profit First can help align your goals with your cash flow, drop me a message any time at [email protected].

Until next week—keep putting Profit First!

Warm regards,

Stephen Edwards
Profit First Accountant and Business Coach
Gro Profit First Accountants