INSIDE CASH-TIGHT GROWTH MENTORING
Price Before You Scale
A composite client example.
You have a product selling and a bigger order in front of you, and you cannot say whether the margin leaves enough cash for payroll. Ivanka Menken uses the Price-to-Cost Multiple inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST: start the retail price at roughly five times landed cost, then test it against gross margin and weeks of payroll. You leave with one written price test and one cash number to watch.
The Price-to-Cost Multiple is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE PRODUCT
One unit. Five times its cost.
- LANDED COSTmade, packed and delivered to you$12
- GUT PRICEtwo and a half times cost$30
- STARTING POINTfive times cost, the price to test$60
THE RULE
“Start at five times landed cost. Then test it against the cash, not the competitor.”
A composite example, not a client result. Your costs will differ.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Sales are up and the cash is not
- 01You are pricing on gut feel.
- 02Revenue is up but cash is tight.
- 03You do not know the margin by product.
THE PRICE, AS IT STANDS
- Retail price: $30, set by feel
- Landed cost: about $12, not written down
- Gross margin per unit: not known
- Stockist share: not in the price
- Weeks of payroll per 100 sales: not known
A composite example. A price with no cost beside it.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
One product, priced twice
A composite client example.
01
THE MOMENT
A bigger order, and a payroll question
A stockist wants a bigger order. You are pleased, then you open the bank account and wonder how you will pay for the stock before payroll. The product sells at $30. It costs about $12 to make, pack and deliver, a number you have never written beside the price. You cannot say what each sale leaves, or how many sales it takes to cover one week of wages.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
Sell more at the same price
The obvious fix was volume. Say yes to the bigger order, push the product harder online and let more sales cover the gap. It added work and stock costs before it added cash. At $30 against a $12 landed cost, each sale left $18, and a stockist taking its share would leave far less. Selling more at that margin made the cash problem bigger, and faster.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
The price had been set against a competitor
Ivanka noticed the price had been set by looking at a competitor’s shelf, not at the founder’s own costs. Nobody had written landed cost beside it. Nobody had asked what a stockist would need to keep, or how many units it took to pay one week of wages. The price looked like a market decision. It was really a cash decision that had never been made.
THE DIAGNOSIS
A cash decision before a market decision
The diagnosis was not that the product was too cheap for the market. It was that the price had never been tested against the cash it needed to produce. Growth was about to multiply a margin nobody had measured.
The reframe: price is a cash decision before it is a market decision. A starting point of roughly five times landed cost gives room for a stockist’s share, the freight nobody counted and the payroll the business has to meet. Then the market tests the price. Not the other way round.
Price is a cash decision before it is a market decision.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Selling more at a thin margin can make the cash problem worse. Every extra unit needs stock paid for up front, and each one adds less than it seems to.
THE TOOL
The Price-to-Cost Multiple, for one product
The Price-to-Cost Multiple starts from what one unit really costs to land, then sets a starting retail price at roughly five times that number. It is a starting point, not a law. The price is then tested twice: against gross margin per unit, and against the number of sales it takes to cover one week of payroll.
A composite example. Tap a part. Your costs and prices are yours.
Price-to-Cost Multiple · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is one sale on one page. Landed cost, the five times starting point, the current price, the margin gap between them, and the weeks of payroll that 100 sales cover at each price. At the bottom, the next quote or order where the new price gets tested.
What it replaces
It replaces a price copied from a competitor’s shelf, a landed cost nobody wrote down, and the hope that more volume will fix a margin problem.
It sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, next to the Price-Cash-Confidence Chain and the monthly Money-and-Clarity Scorecard. You work the numbers through together and take them to your own adviser. It is coaching, not accounting or financial advice, and there is no separate checkout.
THE PAGE, FOR ONE PRODUCT
- 01Landed cost: $12 a unit in the example, made, packed and delivered
- 02The starting point: five times cost, $60 in the example
- 03The current price: $30, two and a half times cost
- 04The margin gap: $18 a unit now, $48 at the starting point
- 05The cash check: weeks of payroll that 100 sales cover at each price
- 06The test: the next order or quote where the new price goes out
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
One sale on a page
In the first session, Ivanka put one sale on a page: sale price, landed cost, gross margin and weeks of payroll covered. Then she asked two questions. What price are you willing to test? What answer would change your next move? The founder wrote the five times starting point beside the current price and saw the gap. They left with one price test for the next stockist conversation and one cash number to watch each week.
THE PRICE FLOOR NOTE, AS WRITTEN
- Unit cost
- $12 landed, including freight and packaging.
- The starting point
- Five times cost: $60, the price to test.
- Current price and gap
- $30 now, leaving $18 a unit against $48 at the starting point.
- The next quote to change
- The next stockist order, at the tested price.
- Review
- At the next session, then monthly
A composite example. Your costs and prices are yours.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingThe bigger order, at a price nobody has tested.
- 2The numbers$12 landed, $30 now, $60 as the starting point.
- 3The storyWhy the competitor’s shelf set the price.
- 4The commitmentOne price test, at the next order.
THE QUESTIONS
- What does one unit cost to land, all in?
- What would a stockist need to keep?
- What price are you willing to test?
- What answer would change your next move?
- Which cash number will you watch each week?
Before the next session, the founder quoted the next stockist at the tested price and counted one number each week: gross margin dollars against the week’s payroll.
WHAT CHANGED
A tested price and one cash number
By month 6, the product has a written price test behind it, a clear margin number and one cash measure reviewed at every session.
BEFORE
- The price was set by feel.
- Landed cost was never written down.
- Volume was the only plan.
- Nobody knew what a sale covered.
BY MONTH 6
- A written price test against landed cost.
- A clear margin number for each product.
- One cash measure reviewed at every session.
- Growth decisions made after the price, not before it.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In this composite example, the founder ended with a written price test, a clear margin number and one cash measure reviewed at the next session. The change was in how the price was set and checked, not a claim about sales or revenue. Illustrative, not a client result.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Price the product before you sell more of it
Ivanka Menken built Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses that are growing while cash tightens. She reads the numbers with you, asks the question you have been avoiding, and keeps you to the decision you write down.
This fits if you sell a product, your price came from a competitor or a feeling, and a bigger order is close. It does not fit if you want someone to do the books. The decision in front of you is one price test. Write landed cost beside your price before you say yes to the next order.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You sell a physical product, direct or through stockists.
- Your price came from a competitor or a feeling.
- Revenue is up and the cash is tighter.
- You will write the price test down and watch one number.
It does not fit
- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want a done-for-you fix or someone to set prices for you.
- You want a pricing formula to copy without testing it.
- You sell only your hours, with no unit cost to price from.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Price-to-Cost Multiple is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- The monthly Money-and-Clarity Scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Price-to-Cost Multiple for each product decision
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Price-to-Cost Multiple is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about pricing before you scale
What price should I test?
Start at roughly five times landed cost, the full cost of making, packing and getting one unit to you. In the example, that is $60 for a $12 unit. It is a starting point to test, not a rule. Ivanka Menken works it through with you inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and you test it at the next order.
What margin do I need?
Enough to pay a stockist’s share, the costs you forgot and the payroll you have to meet. Five times cost leaves 80% gross margin at retail, and about 60% if a stockist buys at half the retail price. Ivanka Menken tests the number against your own costs inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. Take the figures to your adviser.
How does this affect payroll?
Each sale leaves a gross margin in dollars. Divide one week of payroll by it and you know how many sales cover a week of wages. In the example, $18 a unit needs far more sales than $48. Ivanka Menken puts that number on the scorecard inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is coaching, not financial advice.
When do I review it?
At the next session, after the price has met one real order or quote, and then monthly on the Money-and-Clarity Scorecard. Review the margin dollars against payroll. The number of sales alone can mislead. Ivanka Menken reads the result with you inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, before you decide the next move.
Write the cost beside the price
If a bigger order is close and you cannot say what each sale leaves, start with Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring. The Price-to-Cost Multiple is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.
Not accounting, financial advice or a done-for-you fix.