Pay Yourself From the Start

Updated from an originally shared Tuesday email. Bringing the best ones here for the newsletter archive.

Last month, I interviewed a pair of clients who are co-founders of Naker, a pearl-powder capsule brand based in Mauritius. We covered the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, how they went from friends to co-founders, and starting a business from scratch. You can watch the full interview here.

As part of this, I asked them what early advice they didn't take or didn't agree with. And they said it was actually advice I had given them: pay yourself from the start.

They had the runway, so they didn't prioritize it. For Naker, that was the right call. But it's a decision worth making with eyes open, because I've seen it go the other way too.

Here's what I see happen when people wait too long.

Around six to nine to twelve months of being in business, something shifts. Even for people who love what they're building and are making progress, not paying themselves starts to take a psychological toll.

The work starts to feel like an expensive hobby. Or worse, like charity. You're delivering, you're growing, but nothing is coming back to you. That gap quietly erodes the feeling that this is a real business.

The intention is always "I'll pay myself so much when it takes off that it'll all be worth it." Maybe it will.

But if you're building a freelance, fractional, consulting, or coaching business, it can take at least one to two years to build real revenue and two to three years to fully get it off the ground. That's a long time to work for free.

So here's what I recommend

Know your runway. How long can you operate without paying yourself, honestly? If your runway is shorter than the time it typically takes to build this kind of business, that's not a reason to panic. It's a reason to plan. A fractional role, a part-time consulting day, something that brings in steady income while you build, is a legitimate bridge strategy.

Build your salary into your financials from day one. Even if it's a small amount. If your salary is a line item, you can see clearly what the business needs to generate to be sustainable. Without it, you're running a project, not a business.

Separate your personal and business bank accounts and set up an automatic transfer. Even €200 a month. Something moves on a set date, every month. It shifts how you think. You stop operating from scarcity and start thinking like a CEO.

Factor in what paying yourself actually costs. It's not just a salary draw. Taxes, pension, health insurance. These belong in your financial model from the start.

Reinvest after you pay yourself. Cover your costs, pay yourself, then see what's left for reinvestment. If you reinvest first and pay yourself last, you'll always find a reason to wait.

Six to nine months of working without paying yourself, even when things are going well, starts to feel like charity. You deserve to be paid for the business you're building. The sooner that's in the model, the sooner it feels like one.