QUESTIONS FOUNDERS ASK
Why do I dread payroll every fortnight?
By Ivanka Menken, Strategic Mentor·Updated
In Ivanka Menken's experience, payroll dread is a number you are not yet watching. The fear grows when you only see today's bank balance. Count how many weeks of payroll your cash covers, look 13 weeks ahead week by week, and the tightest week stops being a surprise and becomes a decision.
Why does payroll feel worse as the business grows?
Because every new hire and every new client adds cash that goes out before cash comes in. Revenue can rise while the room in the bank account shrinks. The pay run is the one date that never moves, so it is where the gap is felt first.
What are the signs payroll has become a fear?
- You check the bank balance before every pay run.
- You have quietly cut or skipped your own pay.
- You cannot say how many weeks of payroll your cash covers.
- You put off decisions until after payday.
Which number turns the dread into a decision?
Weeks of payroll covered by cash in the bank. It is the first number on Ivanka's monthly scorecard. Divide the cash you hold by one week of payroll and write the answer down. A figure you watch every month is easier to carry than a feeling you check every fortnight.
Why look 13 weeks ahead?
Thirteen weeks is a quarter, long enough to see the tight week coming and short enough to fill in honestly. A week by week view of what comes in and what goes out shows which pay run will be hardest, while there is still time to chase an invoice, move a purchase or have a conversation.
What usually sits behind the fear?
Often it is price. Ivanka traces a chain: prices too low, margins thin, growth eating cash, payroll becoming a monthly fear, and confidence draining. The weekly view shows the symptom; the price of your newest work is often where the cause is.
How does Ivanka work on this?
Watching this number is how Ivanka's Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring starts, and two free tools let you start today.
What else do founders ask about this?
How many weeks of payroll should my cash cover?
Ivanka Menken does not set one number for every business, because it depends on how lumpy your income is and how fast clients pay. What matters first is knowing the figure and watching its direction each month. A falling number is the early warning; a rising one is the sign your decisions are working.
Is it normal for a founder to skip their own pay?
It is common in growing founder businesses, and Ivanka Menken treats it as a signal rather than a virtue. A founder who keeps cutting their own pay is usually funding thin margins or slow payers personally. Naming that out loud is often the first step to fixing the price or terms behind it.
Is this financial advice?
No. Ivanka Menken is a strategic mentor, not an accountant or financial adviser. She reads the numbers with you, asks the questions and holds you to the decision you make. Your accountant does the accounts and advises on tax and financial matters.
What does a session with Ivanka on this look like?
In Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, Ivanka Menken meets the founder fortnightly for 60 minutes over six months. The 13-week view and the monthly scorecard sit on the table, weeks of payroll covered first. Each session ends with one written commitment, and the next one starts by checking whether it was kept.