Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

by: Mike Michalowicz (0)

Author of cult classics The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur offers a simple, counterintuitive cash management solution that will help small businesses break out of the doom spiral and achieve instant profitability.

Conventional accounting uses the logical (albeit, flawed) formula: Sales - Expenses = Profit. The problem is, businesses are run by humans, and humans aren't always logical. Serial entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz has developed a behavioral approach to accounting to flip the formula: Sales - Profit = Expenses. Just as the most effective weight loss strategy is to limit portions by using smaller plates, Michalowicz shows that by taking profit first and apportioning only what remains for expenses, entrepreneurs will transform their businesses from cash-eating monsters to profitable cash cows. Using Michalowicz's Profit First system, readers will learn that:

· Following 4 simple principles can simplify accounting and make it easier to manage a profitable business by looking at bank account balances.
· A small, profitable business can be worth much more than a large business surviving on its top line.
· Businesses that attain early and sustained profitability have a better shot at achieving long-term growth.

With dozens of case studies, practical, step-by-step advice, and his signature sense of humor, Michalowicz has the game-changing roadmap for any entrepreneur to make money they always dreamed of.

The Quotes

When less money is available to run your business, you will find ways to get the same or better results with less. By taking your profit first, you will be forced to think smarter and innovate more.

Eliminating unnecessary expenses will bring more health to your business than you can ever imagine.

To grow the biggest and the fastest, you need to be the best at one thing you do. And to become the best at something, you need to first determine what you are best at and do it a whole lot better. To get there, you take your profit first and the answers to being the best at something will reveal themselves.

Primacy Effect. The principle is this: We place additional significance on whatever we encounter first.

The Reviews

I bought Profit First because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews I'd read from other people, not including the many positive reviews here on Amazon. Phrases like "life-changing," "it changed my business," and "pure genius" were among the many accolades heaped on this little book. So I took the plunge.How much you get out of this book will probably depend entirely on 1) your personality and 2) the health of your business. If, for example, your business -- and your sanity -- is on financial life support, or you really struggle with maintaining spending discipline in your business, then this book really can be useful. He lays out a fairly meticulous case, early on, that many entrepreneurs are so fixated with growth that they fail to see the opportunity for profit right in front of them ... and thus find themselves sitting on the brink of ruin despite having a massive cash flow.The solution, he explains, is to essentially set profit (and taxes) at non-negotiable levels and bend the rest of the budget to accommodate that. To get there, he prescribes what is basically a business-version of an envelope system. (In my head, I immediately thought, "this is basically Dave Ramsey for businesses.") By piecing out your various expenditures among separate bank accounts -- his version of envelopes -- you can start to re-prioritize your spending, moving toward a business that is better balanced for making a profit. In the later chapters, he gets more specific about percentages and how to nudge toward a healthier balance without upsetting all the moving parts, and people, of an existing business. There are elements of the book that feel more like filler than substance, but I can also see where despairing readers may need some of that cheerleading, and I give the author props for having some decent support materials over at his website to help implement the book's advice.There is still another class of entrepreneur, though, and that's one who is disciplined, purposeful, and has a steady vision for their business. Those sorts of people are probably not going to get as much out of Profit First. They may glean some things (including, perhaps, some affirmation that they're on the right track) but a lot of the book is going to be, at best, not for them. At worst, some people may look at the Profit First system as an unnecessary, time-consuming hassle of financial gatekeeping, not unlike how an individual who uses their credit card responsibly and with discipline might decide the extra financial hurdles of the Dave Ramsey cash-only envelope system isn't for them. Do some people benefit from having their assets in seven accounts across two different banks, the way Profit First suggests? Sure. Does everyone? I'm not so sure about that at all.So is Profit First for you? In my opinion, the best way to figure that out might be to go and check out some of the author's resources on his site first, and see if that resonates with you. The book may have particular value if you're in a place where you're generating a lot of revenue but you don't have much to show for it. On the other hand, if you're a meticulous soul who has a clear grasp of where your business revenue should be going -- and you've got the self-discipline to get there -- I would be wary about getting this book unless it was deeply discounted.

I feel like a convert to a new religion after reading this book. I have told everyone I know who owns their own business about it, and here's why:A friend/colleague recommended it to me, and I ordered it on that gateway drug, Amazon Prime. It came that night (!), and I devoured it like a T Rex that hadn’t eaten in a year.It was an easy thing for me to commit to because I already had a separate tax account and knew how that benefitted me. It only made sense that others would be a good idea as well. I travel a lot for my work, and I’ve really struggled with balancing that reimbursement.I own an educational consulting business, and I've really struggled with handling the ebb and flow of the money. I make 70% of my income in two months out of the year, and that's always been a stress to me.Friends, the answer is in this book. It took me less than half an hour to set it all up, and it's as smooth as a freshly shaved leg with really good moisturizer on it.The biggest difference, really, isn't even in the numbers: the biggest difference for me is in the weight off of my mind. I KNOW what will happen. I don't have to think about everything all of the time (Where will this go? When should I pay that? Okay, if I they pay that invoice, I can pay for this upcoming travel.. and on and on).It's no coincidence the name Michael means "like unto God." His ideas have transformed my business - quite literally overnight as I was reading at 3am. Is a finance crush a thing???This book is for you if you:- run your own business- have thought about starting a business- struggle with cashflow- feel like something is always chasing you in your business- feel like you're never ahead, you can never breathe- want a super simple way to end that in manner of Charlie from Charlie's Angels ("But I took them away from all that, and now they work for me...")Seriously, read the book. Read the book. Do the exercises. Implement the plan. You will have a financial awakening that will be the best thing since, I don't know, something really good.A must, must read.

I did not like this book. It was super repetitive saying the same things over and over and over. I could not even finish it. I wish I could return it! Also this book is strictly written for business who do not profit at all. I thought it would be helpful for any business to help have more profit but it's only for business who don't ever make a profit and even then it's a hard read. I then tried listening to the pumpkin plan mentioned in his book and it's completely written for a male audience as if women don't have business. The gross jokes were enough for me to not like this author.

TLDR: x - y = z and therefore z - y = xincome minus expenses equals profit and therefore profit minus expenses equals income.viola, you've read the book.The only truly actionable advice fond inside is as follows: if the profit you take is unsatisfactory, take a tiny bit more now and a little bit more later and it will add up.Wow. Speechless.That amazing gem is backstopped by enough thought to fully flush out a bi-fold brochure, but somehow spread across some 150 pages.Some of that pap that fills the rest of the space is downright terrible advice about how to cut overhead down to a nub, fire your employees and your "bad" customers.In the end it's one tiny nugget of an obvious idea surrounded by fluff that is spiked with downright bad advice.It's a sales brochure for Mike's misguided services.Most books of this stripe AT LEAST put some punch into their "You TOO can be rich soon!" anecdotes. The personal and business stories in here are truly bad, even for inspirational business books.Awful. Truly Awful.

Before going into the details of the review it's important to point out that these speakers are actually designed as "near-field" monitors, not home-audio loudspeakers. I've seen a handful of complaints about lack of bass reponse, hollow sound etc.Near-field monitors are designed to reproduce sound with a *flat* response to give an accurate, faithful reproduction of the original audio without enhancements. And the name implies their intended usage, to be listened "near" to the speaker itself at low-to-medium volume levels, not from 10-20 feet away with room-filling sound.By contrast, "loudspeakers" are used for home audio and they typically have boosted bass and or treble response (low and high frequencies) to make the sound more punchy and colorful, especially since nearly all consumer audio sources come from highly compressed MP3 sources where much of the dynamic range of the original music track has been lost.The PreSonus Eris series are all designed to be professional near-field monitors used for making critical mixes for audio or film/video production, and in that intended usage the Eris 3.5's shine.The response is definitely flat with a little more low-end punch than I would have expected for a monitor this size. In fact I'm outright surprised how much low-end (bass) comes out of this small-ish pair. The rear-porting coupled with being close to a wall provides ample if not a tad too much bass reinforcement. I think for future design evolution having a front-ported enclosure would most likely make the bass response a bit more accurate, however I'm totally pleased with the output they provide.One thing that sets this pair apart from the competition other than it's accurate sound reproduction, is that they have both a high and low-end tuning knobs on the back of the primary unit (left side). All others simply have a volume or output level adjustment, but no way to actually TUNE the speakers to the environment. That's a big plus and normally only found on larger and pricier units.Although these are monitors and not loudspeakers they do provide a ton of physical sound output, far louder than I would have expected for such a small near-field monitor. (Remember, near-fields are designed for up-close low-to-medium volume levels.)I considered several different models at this size and for the money you can't get or expect a better pair of monitors, they rock! Mine haven't even broken-in yet (new drivers need a break-in period to maximize their potential) and I'm already in love - it will only get better with time.As long as you clearly understand the difference between what a loudspeaker and a near-field monitor is supposed to do then you'll be amazed at how good the Eris 3.5's sound. Get a pair and enjoy!!! I definitely am.

(this is a review of the PreSonus Eris E3.5 model)Good:- Sound is neutral- Very accurate sound stage- The 'acoustic tuning' it's called allows you to adjust for environment- aux in on front- professional look that isn't flashy and full of leds trying to call attention to itself.Cons:- Cables you get are pretty mediocre- Cabinet build quality feels cheapA quick background. While I'm no audio engineer and I wouldn't classify myself as an audiophile I do have several headphones in the $100-$300 range and a headphone amp and dac. I was looking to upgrade my 15 year old set of pc speakers that work but I knew I could get better.Sound wise these are called "Multimedia Studio Monitors" and by that definition these are really accurate. I also primarily have headphones with a flat response curve so these very much sound like headphones in that regard. They do have bass but it's not going to rock the place. I'm going to skip getting in to details on audio since other reviewers have done a great job already and I agree with all of them. But if you are looking for accurate speakers for a computer just get these and you’ll be happy. I would not recommend them for a television or something where you are trying to fill an entire room with sound.The rest of this review is for people that do buy them and it’s their first pair of “studio monitors”.First off while they seemed to use excellent components for the monitors the cables they give you are pretty mediocre. I included a picture of what's included (power cable is already plugged in and not pictured). The speaker wire that goes between the two speakers is about 6 feet and almost look like 18 AWG wire. I ended up buying 14 AWG wire but knowing what I know now I'd have just got 16 AWG and it would be a little easier to work with. I then connected them to pc using an 1/8" to RCA jacks. The cable they give you is around 5 feet and my computer was further away so had to buy a new cable for that. Any of the 1/8" to RCA should work fine. The power cable is a standard IEC7 non polarized connector and was maybe around 6 feet.Some setup tips. First off the full manual is not included but can be obtained from presonus.com and searching for eris e3.5 and going to downloads. This explains far more about placement and adjustment than the quick start that's included or even what I say here. The manual explains the details but the volume on the monitor should be around the 11 o'clock to 12 o'clock position in most situations. Once you set that don't touch the volume control on monitor, adjust the audio from the source. With the monitors set to 11 o’clock the signal coming from the computer was too hot (too loud). I would have only been able to turn the volume up to 10% and it was really loud. RCA attentuators will reduce the volume by a certain amount just before entering monitors. Oddly amazon doesn't have them, or they were really overpriced. Search online for "Harrison Labs 12 dB RCA Line Level Attenuator" and it should be in the $30-$40 range as of March 2018. This allowed me to have a greater working range on volume. I now typically listen at around 40% level on computer but occasionally turn it up or lower it. One last thing I bought were  Wellcn 26 Pcs Ferrite Cores - EMI RFI Noise Filter Clip for 3mm/ 5mm/ 7mm/ 9mm/ 13mm Diameter-Black . Place those on the power and RCA cables a couple inches before they connect to monitor. I got some occasional crackling sounds and those removed it. I also put one on the aux cable I use to connect my work laptop to these when working from home. It's not needed on the speaker cable going between the monitors but also won't really hurt anything. **See update below on how I've changed this**From where you are normally positioned there should be an equilateral triangle between you, the two monitors, and the space between the monitors. Meaning if you're head is 3 feet from front of monitor they should also be 3 feet apart and then be turned to face you. If done right you won't see the sides of monitors. You want your ear to be lined up with the small tweeters. Because mine are mounted on a wall a little high I have them tilted down and also on their side, which these monitors support. If you do this make sure to mirror the monitors. Meaning have the tweeters on the outside to get a larger sound stage. Once this is all setup don't touch the equalizer or "acoustic tuning" as they call it. Just listen to music for a few days to get used to them. There also may be a little bit of break in needed. Only after a few days should you make small adjustments to the acoustic tuning options. It's preferable to turn down a setting than boost it. If you’ve edited photos you may have noticed trying to boost the brightness on a dark image looks worse than darkening a bright image. Same idea here. So if it sounds to tinny or harsh you want to turn down the highs slightly. This reduces the highs and thus the lows will be more prominent. Initially it sounded tinny but after a couple days it either went away or I got used to it I haven't had to touch mine.One last thing I'd recommend. Since these are fairly portable, but all my wires are routed around desk I don't want to undo them if I decide to take monitors with me somewhere. I bought me an extra power cable and then use the 1/8" to rca cable and speaker cable they give you and put in a small ziplock bag. Now all I have to do is disconnect everything from monitors, grab my ziplock bag of stuff and I'm ready to go.I know that was a lot of information but I hope you found this information helpful and enjoy these.(update: December 2018)So far these have been holding up well and have had no issues. In fact considering buying a second pair to have over by my workbench. Since writing above I changed my setup so now I have a Maker Hart Loop Mixer < https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M68UK38 > that I connect my computers and to and then audio goes from there to PreSonus. It lets me adjust levels and I still have some inputs open so I've done things like be on a conference call but also have music playing while I'm waiting for them to start. I also got rid of the RCA Line Level Attentuators. May buy more but only -3 or -6db as the loop mixer doesn't get as loud.

Stopped working within two days. They sounded great and worked fine up until then.. I went outside for an hour and left them on. When I came back in I heard a rustling noise upstairs. It was the passive monitor. Turn on some music and find the passive monitor doesn't work period. Mind they were working just fine before I left the room. Unplug it from the from the interface and it still makes the sound. Plug it into my laptop, same issues. This product makes me really question if checking review ratings on amazon products even means anything because a quick google search will show that the issues i've posted about are common, and I likely have to ship them back for maintenance or replacement. You'll barely find evidence of that here in the reviews.

Quality for Zojirushi products have apparently become problematic. I've owned others before, and they did NOT go bad like this within such a short period of time.Unacceptable.___________Zojirushi refuses to take any responsibility, claims that it's "normal" even though I have indeed followed recommended cleaning practices. The rep then directly suggested I'd be billed if I sent in the boiler for warranty service and Zojurushi decides it's not responsible.I can not recommend Zojirushi to anyone any more. The quality and service ethos of the past is gone - they might as well be just another peddler of cheap junk.

I love this thing! I was a little on the fence but I am very glad I got it. It's super convenient being able to just turn to the side of my desk, dispense hot water and then wait for the tea to steep.Some use notes:I almost always use the default temperature setting, that works great for most all teas and I don't want to wait for the water to cool for the lower temperatures. I only ever pour in filtered (Brita) water, which negates the need to use the boil feature most times; but I still let it boil once in a while to kill any germs.Every couple months or so I'll dump out the remaining water and give the inside a gentle wash with dishsoap and a cloth to remove the slight film that develops.Electrical consumption:This thing pulls 700watts of power when heating, this lasts for about 15-20 mins or so depending on how much water's in the tank. It uses 30watts of power constantly to keep the water warm. If you're energy conscious like me: the energy it takes to heat up the water is about equivalent to 10 hours of "maintaining" the temperature. So if you'll be using the hot water again in less than 10 hours just leave it on.Final note: the musical note it plays when it's ready with hot water after heating is like a mini-symphony, got a laugh out of it the first time I heard it.

As a daily green tea and matcha drinker, this type of 'hot pot' is invaluable to me. Always ready to dispense water at the perfect temperature. I couldn't live without one, and the Zojirushi line of boilers is among the best of them. Made in Japan, and very high quality. The interior is coated, but I've been told the coating is non-transferring, and won't leach chemicals into the water. The dispenser is a one-touch electronic pump, not the "manually pumped" type. Super easy and convenient.I strongly recommend buying a box of their cleaning tablets along with it. If you have hard water, you're going to need them. I'm on well water, which is pretty mineral-rich, so I clean my hot pots about once a month. I use mine multiple times a day, and it's on during all my waking hours. It only uses about 40W when sustaining hot water, so very economical. It has a nice shutoff timer, so you can have it turn off while you sleep and be back on and fully heated when you wake up.I think this brand offers the best quality and value for the price. The last one I owned lasted for well over a decade before the internals finally gave out. I used it many times daily before it finally needed replacing.Highly recommended!

I'll admit it, I'm more than a bit obsessed with Japanese culture and the way the Japanese do things, so when I saw that a large number of Japanese homes have a hot water dispenser, I was intrigued.After having this machine for a couple months, I have no idea how I went this long without having one. The ability to have instantly hot water for tea, coffee, ramen, or to even give a little boost to water I'm boiling on the stove or using to make rice, has made this device an invaluable tool in my kitchen, and even though it is large and I have limited counter space, this heater has earned a permanent space on my countertop.The heater itself couldn't be easier to use. Just fill it up, and it will automatically begin heating the water to the desired temperature. This initial heating, I will note, is the only time the heater really produces any sound or steam. While it's getting cold water up to temperature, it does make some strange whining and popping sounds, and it can emit a good deal of steam from the top, but once it has reached the temperature, it sits silently, ready to dispense at a moment's notice.The heater does a great job at heat retention, but the outside of the heater, despite being metal, only gets mildly warm even when the water inside is boiling hot. You don't have to worry about accidentally scalding your hand by brushing up against the heater on accident.The heater will build up some sediment on the inside, and my tap water especially is particularly hard, but it seems like after it builds up an initial patina around the heating element, the sediment doesn't get too bad. Zojirushi also makes citric acid cleaner to break up the sediment once it gets too bad, so I'm not that worried.I would hugely recommend this to anybody who needs hot water on a regular basis, even if you're not doing a lot of Japanese or Asian cooking. It has sped up so many aspects of cooking for me.

I used this product one month. One day I tasted rusty metal from the boiled water. I untied the screws under the lid and opened it. Take a look at my pictures. It was rusted.

I bought this product last March. After just 10 months of usage, the inside layer peels off. Very disappointed!

I have been using the Zojirushi water boiler in my kitchen's for many years. They are well made and designed and remarkably convenient in any kitchen. I use it for making hot beverages like coffee and tea, as well as to save time by using pre-heated water in cooking things like pasta and rice--- anything that requires boiling water. It's a great time saver. The timer is another great feature which allows you to save energy when the boiler is not in use. One caution - if you have minerals in your water, you will have to de-scale the boiler on a regular basis. But, this is a fairly easy maint. task and the boiler has a built in cleaning function. I have a water softener in my home and I don't have to do this very often.

I wear it everywhere and Suh dude everyone!

I am a small business owner who chose to break off from the traditional healthcare model to practice medicine differently. As someone who does not have any experience with business and managing cash flow... this book was life changing. I went from not even understanding if I was going to survive a small start up business, to being confident my business would not only survive, but was thriving. The principles in the book are basic, which is exactly what I needed. My CPA understood why I was using the Profit First model and supported me. It gave me peace of mind that I could afford to pay myself and that I was not overspending on my business expenses.

This book changed my outlook on where my money should go. I started my business with very little overhead so most of the money was profit. I had all this money in the bank and no clue what to do with it. I was afraid to spend it or pay myself so it was just there. After reading the book and setting up all my accounts it so much clearer how to allocate the money. I was able to pay myself with no fear. Now we are expanding and will be adding some overhead while also adding profit. I’m excited to take Profit First to the next level.

I love efficiency! And in general an envelope system is a great way to do that...but with actual physical envelopes, it gets a little cumbersome.This year, I implemented Profit First in my business as I read this book. It was one of the first books I read.I love the siplicity & actionable steps that Mike provides. Some people have complained that there's nothing ground-breaking here but I tend to disagree.Most people I've worked with as a small business systems consultant need a little help organizing most parts of their business. That includes their money. Whether they're just starting out or have been in business nearly 10 years, some haven't quite figured out how to manage the money in a way that allows them to have some left over at the end. And at the same time, removes the hassle of physical money management (envelopes and cash). Each account makes your numbers visible at a glance!!!This book gives you a system to do just that. Turning a money gobbler into an organized set of pre-assigned buckets for each of your business dollars.For someone who loves both numbers and systems, the Profit First method has given me both. Got to say that having the ability to actually draw a profit in the first quarter this year and KNOWING what that amount should be has been powerful! The emotional ups and downs of running your own business can be challenging. And seeing that profit account grow gives you something to look forward to as you work through the good and the rough days of owning a business!Mike provides guidelines for how to handle the lingering questions about managing the $$ that come up for a lot of business owners. I've shared this book with multiple business owners since reading and implementing it in my own business.If you're in a spot where you're unsure about how to organize your business finances or haven't taken a profit distribution in years, or haven't ever even had a profit to speak of, this book is a great place to get started!!Definitely worth reading! Really glad I implemented it!I've even started using this as a client gift during my process and systems work with clients. And so far, everyone I've sent it to has given it rave reviews as well.

I heard about this book on The Kelly Roach podcast and immediately purchased it. I just launched my personal styling business in 2020 and new I needed to get a handle on my business finances. Having used the envelope system back when I first started getting an allowance as a 12 year old, I have always been a fan of the concept. This is more than that and makes complete and total sense. I know it will be a great system to get my business finances healthy and thriving moving forward. I wish I had this on day one, I'd be so much better off. -- Shannon A.

Update: May 11, 2019 ***I was just browsing Amazon and came across this book again. I thought it would be helpful to give an update. My first review was probably October 2018. The advice / method in the book really worked for us and it has helped us so much that I tell every business owner about the method.I went back and reread the book in December to make sure we were doing it right. We were but we tweaked some things in Feb. (Like I take profit out every month - 100% of what I saved) We still do our cash flow and pay bills 3 times a week - doesn't work for us to do it 2 times a month. Too many bills since we do a lot of manufacturing. Although we are now starting to get ahead of bills by a week or two so when that happens we reduce how often we sit and do cash flow and pay bills.We started out doing 3% profit and now were are up to 8.5%For the first time ever I wasn't angry about paying taxes. Having a separate account to save for that is brilliant. We save for end of year taxes, payroll taxes and estimated taxes. We had $8000 or $9000 extra in the account after April 15 so we moved that money to pay off our Line of Credit (taken out a few years ago when we owed so much in taxes and had not saved)I don't wake up with the sick feeling every day wondering if enough money is coming in to pay the bills.We made some other changes to stop the roller coaster since we do manufacturing we get a lot of money in and then a lot of money out.We pay payroll every week - not every 2 weeks.We moved other things to pay once a week instead of every month or 2 weeks. Justhelps us (having payroll taxes in another account that is saved for helps as well since that was a big expense once a month)Personally we also set up accounts differently. I pay my car payment once a week (1/4th of a payment), my line of credit also once a week. I also put in 1/4 of my mortgage into a savings account since they only let me pay them once a month. All of that reduces strain and the roller coaster balances.Union bank is trying to charge me fees for so many transfers per month. I've been in talks with them as I'm not happy that they are charging me when it is in between my own accounts and it isn't a cost to them however since we are far more stable and profitable now, I am starting to reduce how often I transfer the funds out of income into Profit 1, Taxes, Sales Tax, Profit 2 (college account) and then to Operating expenses. It was every day before but now we are getting down to 2 times a week.Hope this helps! By the way, I'm still shocked it works or makes a difference. I thought we were frugal before so I'm not sure how we are seeing more profit but we are.______My husband and I have had a business for over 14 years. We first read and started implementing the plan in the book about 2 weeks ago. I found the book helpful. Some solid new ideas that I've not read anything else. It did help us to pull out taxes and a small amount of profit first before putting the rest into an operating expense account. We used to take an owners draw when we had a large positive swing in cash flow. Later we'd be scrambling to pay payroll or sales tax . Now I feel like I have a bit more control over our income and expenses. Basic premise is about changing human behavior. When you make more you tend to spend more. You wonder where the cash went at the end of the year and you're upset that you owe a lot in taxes and dont' have the money. Overall I feel like we have a better pulse on our cash flow and can do something immediately if we notice that it has dropped too far. The Author recommends doing bills on the 10th and 25th. I think that might work for us in 6 months or a year but for now 2 times a week is better while we get things back under control. Hope to finally get into a habit of once a week in the next month. We pay ourselves and our employees once a week now because it made cash flow more even and our employees appreciate seeing a check once a week too.Dont' expect the author to be. an accounting genius - you'll be disappointed however the ideas he has come up with do seem to help. It is about human behavior and changing it by putting some checks and balances in place.

I ordered this book over a year ago, read it quickly and then put it on the shelf when I was still thinking about implementing the system. Have you ever done that? Well it was sitting there looking at me every week - so three weeks ago I read it again. And THIS time decided - ok, I'm jumping in the deep end and DOING IT. I'm excited to report that just knowing that the profit money is in there is really exciting - that it doesn't go to bills, or equipment, or anything else...but my husband and I! I have dreams of what to do with that money - guilt-free!! I'm so glad I was told about this book and recommend it whenever I travel and speak. :)

I had this book for 2 years but found it challenging to implement because of the multi-bank-account requirement. But my cash flow problem did not let up, eventually the pain of my situation moved me to find a bank. And I found NOVOBANK and wow! This bank has literally designed its platform based on the profit first system.Extremely helpful. I now have more cash in 4 months than I ever have in the entire 4 year history of my business. Total god send! It works! But I can sense that my discipline to stay on track is still being tested.***you need an LLC to open an account with novo.***** feel the cash flow pain, this will move you towards solutions.

After running a daycare center for four years with no profit, I was determined to educate myself about entreprenuerial finances.A very successful entrepreneur mentioned that she streamlined her business finances using the Profit First formula.I bought this book and started implementing the steps right away.The author breaks down concepts for a person like who gets anxious around accounting terminology. I am so glad I found this book. I will keep you posted on my journey.

Profit First accounting is a very logical system that I should have started implementing for my business years ago. After watching his presentation on YouTube, I understood it, but with reading the book, I now understand more of the nitty gritty details on the system. Thank you, Mike!

I recommend this book to every business owner! Paying yourself first is so important if you don't have money for yourself then they even run a business?! Awesome book!

This book is only tangentially related to "Clockwork" but the two together could make a powerful difference to your business. This one is about controlling your funds and using a "pay envelope" strategy to ensure that you operate with a consistent profit and limit spending to the amount you have set aside for it. As the author says, one of its challenges is that it seems too simple to work. I can certainly say that my own business would have been more profitable and would have less stuff that hasn't been used more than a couple of times.

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine
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