PAY YOURSELF OR DIE BROKE | Let's Get Real Ep. 15

Think you're a real entrepreneur by pumping every damn penny back into your business? THINK AGAIN.

In this raw, unfiltered episode, I rip apart the dangerous myths keeping you broke while your business thrives. You're working yourself to death, paying everyone BUT yourself, and calling it "hustle" when it's actually just slow financial suicide.

The hard truth most won't tell you: If you're not paying yourself, you don't have a business—you have a job. And if you collapse, your entire operation goes down with you.

Learn why:

• "Real entrepreneurs reinvest everything" is complete BULLSHIT
• Paying yourself isn't selfish—it's essential survival
• Waiting until you hit some magical revenue number is a recipe for bankruptcy

Stop running yourself into the ground. Your business should operate WITHOUT you—that's the whole damn point.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/1Gbxmh2kNlI

Want more brutal financial truth with zero fluff? Hit up nobswealth.com for the strategies that actually work.

As always we ask you to comment, DM, whatever it takes to have a conversation to help you take the next step in your journey, reach out on any platform!

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DISCLOSURE: Awards and rankings by third parties are not indicative of future performance or client investment success. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investment strategies carry profit/loss potential and cannot eliminate investment risks. Information discussed may not reflect current positions/recommendations. While believed accurate, Black Mammoth does not guarantee information accuracy. This broadcast is not a solicitation for securities transactions or personalized investment advice. Tax/estate planning information is general - consult professionals for specific situations. Full disclosures at www.blackmammoth.com.

Episode Transcript

Stoy (00:00):
To pay myself or to not pay myself.

(00:03):
That is the question, right?
Business owners, do I paymyself?
Do I reinvest back in mybusiness?
How the hell is all this gonnawork?
Listen up here.
Because if you do not payyourself, then what happens to
your business?
We never think about thosethings.
As business owners, we usuallyjust keep pumping it back in and
back in, keep going and going,and going and going.
And for some of us, our businesscan actually pay for a lot of
our living expenses.

(00:23):
However, that's not true formost.
It's not true at all.
Here are three myths that wealways hear when it turn, when
it comes to reinvesting backinto your business, one real
entrepreneurs and reinvesteverything.
That's bullshit.
Real entrepreneurs do notreinvest everything back in.
They also take a.
Profit and they live their life.
They travel, they do thosethings.

(00:45):
What real entrepreneurs actuallydo is they try to provide how
their lifestyle is and createbusinesses around it.
Therefore, it looks like they'rereinvesting back into
everything, but that's notalways the case.
They are paying themselves.
Number two, paying yourselfmeans you're selfish.
That's not true.
Come on, you are an employee ofyour business.
You might be the boss, you mightbe the CEO, but you also are an

(01:05):
employee.
Therefore, you need to payyourself.
Remember, the business is thebusiness.
You are an employee of thebusiness.
If you feel like you are takingprofits and and paying yourself
more than others, one, you'rethe owner, you should.
Two, the business should operatewithout me.
That's the whole point.
So if we can get you to whereyou're just an employee and
you're paying yourself and thebusiness is operational, that's

(01:27):
a win-win.
Number three, I'll just waituntil I hit X in profits or X in
amount of money we make insales.
Um, excuse me, what if thatnever happens?
What if you end up goingbankrupt or going broke before
you get there?
Come on, let's think about this.
If you're not taking care ofyourself.
How in the hell is your businessgonna take care of itself?
If I'm not paying myself, takecare of myself personally, then

(01:48):
I will collapse.
And if I collapse, my businesscollapses.
Especially for all those withstartups, newer businesses or
the businesses that you are in.
Everything.
And what do I mean, youentrepreneur, you business owner
right now, if you were to takethe next month off and
disappear, what would happen toyour business?
Do you see that?
Yeah, it fucking crash.
You know why?
Because you are everything toyour business, therefore you're

(02:11):
not actually doing a business.
It's a job.
So until you can create thatinto a business where you could
step away and it runsconcurrently, then your true
operational business.
So what are some things we gottaweigh and things that we gotta
look at when it comes to ourbusinesses and deciding to pay
ourselves or not?
The first and foremost is alwaysthe tax side of it.
You gotta do tax planning.
You gotta understand how muchyou can't pay yourself, how much

(02:34):
you should not pay yourself, howmuch you should reinvest, how
much you should not reinvest allaround what that tax bill's
going to be.
And in doing so, in that taxplanning, you're also gonna
figure out ultimately what youneed to take home for.
Hey, I wanna buy a home.
I wanna buy a car that is not inthe business, right?
I wanna invest in somethingelse.
Well, most of the time, lenderslike to see your income.

(02:55):
Now there's lenders out there,creative financing that will
look at you as a business ownerand calculate that.
But traditional banks wanna seeyour personal income.
So if I'm a business owner andmy business makes a million
dollars a year, but I don't takeany home, I make zero.
So think about that.
Those tax planning ideas willallow you to do that, that
transition.
The others talk about scalingand growth.

(03:16):
If you're really trying to growyour business, you taking all
the profits out for your owngood isn't the right move
either, right?
So it's all a balance andeverything that we look at.
So story, what the hell can I doabout it?
Well, one.
First, you need to address whatyour salary needs to be.
Take a look at your personal,uh, expenses and what you need
there.
Then implement that strategy bystarting small.

(03:38):
So say, Hey, I needed like 500 amonth.
Just start with something smalland start to do 400, 500, a
thousand, 2000 as you grow.
Then if you need to update it,you can.
Number three.
Or two A, however you wannathink about it.
Do tax planning at least twice ayear with your advisory team,
CPA, your accountant, yourfinancial planner, you name it.

(03:58):
You need to do tax planning sothat way you know what to
prepare for.
Number four, understand yourgrowth and understand what you
want to do and want to achievefor your business.
Talk a lot with this, withbusiness owners is you need to
set up your business for how youwant to exit, right?
We get into business because wehave a service or a skill that
we're really good at, or aproduct we sell.
But ultimately, at the end ofthe day, we wanna also sell it

(04:19):
and make money and retire,right, or legacy, hand it off.
If you do not build it right onthe front end, it's gonna be
really difficult to change itdown the road.
Therefore, if you know how youwanna grow, whether that's, hey,
it's a lifestyle practice, orit's a billion dollar
conglomerate with 300,000employees, I don't know, don't
care.
But you need to understand thatas you go through and determine
what you are.
What you're gonna pay yourselfor what you're going to

(04:40):
reinvest.
And number five, look toreinvest not only specifically
in your company, but all thoseitems around your company,
right?
For example, what we do at atBlack Mammoth with our modern
family office is we willreinvest in creative lending,
we'll reinvest in otherinvestments that are outside of
our actual firm, but supplement,supplement it very well overall.

(05:01):
So overall, here's the truth.
Your business is yours.
Your business is a business aslong as you can take yourself
out and CR and create, createyourself as an employee.
Otherwise, you are just doing ajob and that job will fail as
soon as you are able to fail.
So think about this.
Do I pay myself?
Do I not pay myself?
That is the question, how thehell do you survive without

(05:30):
paying yourself?
I don't truly fully grasp that,but here we are.