This is a hill I will absolutely die on:

You need to be paying yourself a consistent salary as a business owner.

And before you say “But I am paying myself!”, let’s be honest. You’re probably just moving money around when you feel like it, or need it.

Or, you’re using the business card for personal stuff because you don’t know what’s in your own account.

Or, maybe you are paying yourself regularly… But you plucked that number out of thin air.

Here’s the deal:

You can’t fund your life – or feel safe in your business – if you’re not paying yourself properly.

And by “properly”, I mean a calculated number that lands in your personal account every month, no more flip flopping between feast and famine.

Let’s dig into how you can get there.

Benchmarks 🪜

So many business owners pick goals that sound nice, like £10k months, or six-figure years, but never stop to ask:

What does that number actually do for me?

Because here’s what people forget to consider: your life ≠ their life.

Your version of “enough” is completely unique. You might need 6 figure years to live comfortably in London with two kids. Someone else might need £4k/month to fund slow mornings and spontaneous city breaks.

Instead of plucking a number from Instagram, build your own ladder.

What’s one meaningful goal you could aim for right now?

Replacing your old salary?
Affording a new sofa without sabotaging your owner’s pay?
Saving for maternity leave?
Paying for your degree?

Those are the rungs in the ladder that lead to the big, shiny goal.

Set one, then set the next. Keep going and working on the steps that build your financial goals.

But what if you feel like there’s no room to dream beyond “just paying the bills”? Let’s talk about it.

Scarcity Mindset 💭

Scarcity isn’t about how much money you actually have. It’s a mindset. It’s the belief that there’s not enough time, not enough clients, not enough income.

You might read that and think “No but there really isn’t enough time or money for me.” Here’s the thing… A millionaire can experience a scarcity mindset. Because that’s what it is – a mindset.

Ever notice how, when money’s tight, you somehow pull it together just in time?

That’s called focus dividend; When your brain zooms in on survival, and you make the money because you have to.

But when your brain doesn’t feel that urgency? Suddenly, that same energy and action disappears.

To grow sustainably, you’ve got to move out of “survive mode” and into the belief that there is more money available to you.

Not just for bills. Not just for necessities. For joy. For comfort. For ‘play money’.

**How to Work Out What You Actually Need to Earn to Fund the Damn Life** 💰

This is the part where we stop guessing and start doing the maths (I hate maths too but bear with me girl).

First, you need to know four key numbers:

Your personal living expenses
Your business expenses
Your tax obligations
Your ideal monthly salary (aka owner’s pay)

Let’s use mine as an example:

Right now, I pay myself £2,000/month, and my business expenses come to about £1,000/month – plus another £10,000/year on annual costs like programs, subscriptions, and payment plans.

So in total, my expenses (personal + business) add up to about £46,000/year.

Sounds fine, right? But if I only made £46k, I’d be screwed come tax season. Because tax doesn’t magically pay itself.

Let’s factor in 20% tax. That brings my actual revenue goal to £57,000/year.

Now let’s say I want to bump my owner’s pay to £3,000/month (a solid next rung on the ladder). That increases my revenue target to £72,000. And if we round up for buffer’s sake, we’re looking at a £75,000/year revenue goal.

So now I have a number… What do I do with it?

I reverse-engineer it.

I look at my offers, my pricing, what I sold last year, my conversion rates… And I map out what I’d need to sell, at what price, to realistically hit £75k.

This isn’t about setting a dreamy goal and hoping for the best. It’s about knowing your numbers and knowing what it’ll actually take to get there.

Treat Your Owner’s Pay Like an Expense 🧾

Giving yourself a set, consistent salary brings your business something magical: predictability.

And I hear you… “But Emily, I literally don’t have predictability. That’s the whole problem. My income is all over the place, how can I pay myself consistently?”

Here’s how: Treat your owner’s pay like a business expense.

Think about it. You’re not debating whether or not to pay your Canva subscription this month. You’re not wondering if you feel like paying your VA. You’ve committed. It’s happening. End of story.

Your owner’s pay deserves the same respect.

When you treat paying yourself as a non-negotiable, like any other monthly expense, something shifts.

You suddenly know what’s coming out of your account each month. And when you know what’s going out, it’s so much easier to figure out what needs to come in.

What most people are doing is backwards – they track their income, subtract their expenses, and then decide how much they’re “allowed” to pay themselves. Screw that.

Start with your salary. Build around it. You deserve to be paid on purpose, not just when there’s “enough left over.”

Fund. Your. Damn. Life.

— Emilie x