INSIDE CASH-TIGHT GROWTH MENTORING
Test a hire against revenue cover
An example, not a client story.
The Salary Cover Test is a one-page check Ivanka Menken uses inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. Before you advertise a role, you write the salary plus on-costs, the revenue that will cover it, the first tasks the new person takes off you, and the measure you will read at day 90. If you cannot name the cover, you are not ready to hire. You redesign the role or wait.
The Salary Cover Test is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE HIRE
A delivery lead, tested before the ad
FULL COST
$100K
$85K salary + on-costs
COVER NEEDED
$250K
of named revenue at 40% margin
BEFORE THE OFFER
- Name the revenue that pays for the role.
- Write the first handover.
- Set the day-90 measure.
THE RULE
“No hire without revenue cover.”
An example, not a client result. Your role, revenue and margin will differ.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
The salary is known. The cover is not.
- 01You are about to hire because the role feels essential.
- 02You know the salary, and you have not named the revenue that pays it.
- 03You plan to cover the first months from savings or the facility.
AN EXAMPLE
A 12-person consultancy. The founder is about to advertise an $85K delivery lead, because every project waits for them. Cash is tight. The salary is in the draft ad. The revenue that will pay it is not written anywhere. The plan is to hire, free up the founder, and trust that the extra capacity brings in the work.
THE SALARY COVER TEST
- Role: delivery lead
- Salary plus on-costs: about $100K a year (example)
- Revenue cover: not yet named
- First handover: not yet written
- 90-day measure: not yet set
An example, before the test is done. The role and the numbers are yours.
WHAT IVANKA SEES
A hire is a revenue commitment, not a capacity decision
Most founders test a hire by asking whether they need the help. They nearly always do. The question that decides whether the business can carry the hire is a different one: which revenue, already won or clearly in reach, pays for this person every month from the day they start?
Ivanka looks past the salary to the cover. Salary plus on-costs is paid every fortnight. The revenue that covers it arrives later, and only the margin on it counts. Capacity on its own does not bring in work. A named client, a named piece of work or a named price change does.
The salary is not the decision. The revenue that has to cover it is.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Hire and hope, and the salary plus on-costs is committed before the cover exists. The business has more capacity, the same revenue and less cash, and the founder carries the gap from savings or the facility.
Salary Cover Test
Set the cost against the cover before the ad
The Salary Cover Test puts the role, its full cost, the revenue that covers it, the first handover and a 90-day measure on one page, before the ad goes out.
An example hire. Tap a part. The role, the revenue and the margin are yours.
Salary Cover Test · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is a one-page hiring check, not a recruitment plan. It sets the full yearly cost of the role against the margin from named revenue, and it writes down what the new person takes off the founder first and how you will know at day 90 whether the hire is working.
What it replaces
It replaces the hire-and-hope decision: the role that feels essential, the salary that looks affordable this month, and the gap covered from savings or the facility while you wait for the extra capacity to bring in revenue.
It sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, beside the 13-week cash view and the monthly scorecard. Weeks of payroll covered by cash, the scorecard's first number, shows what the hire does to the bank. No separate checkout.
THE PAGE HAS FIVE LINES
- 01Role: the job, in one line
- 02Salary plus on-costs: the full yearly cost, super and leave included
- 03Revenue cover: the named revenue whose margin pays for it
- 04First handover: the tasks that leave the founder's desk in the first month
- 0590-day measure: the number you will read at day 90
INSIDE A SESSION
Write the cover before the ad
In the example, the founder brings the draft ad to a session. Ivanka asks for the full cost of the role, then for the revenue that will cover it. They work it through: about $100K a year of cost, at a 40% gross margin, needs about $250K of revenue that would not exist without the hire. Then they write the first handover and the day-90 measure. Before the next session, the founder either names the cover or redesigns the role.
THE SALARY COVER TEST, FILLED IN
- Role
- Delivery lead
- Salary plus on-costs
- $100K
- Revenue cover at 40%
- $250K
- First handover
- Weekly project reviews and client status calls.
- 90-day measure
- Projects delivered without the founder in the room.
An example. The role, cover and measure are yours.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingThe role you are about to advertise.
- 2The numbersSalary plus on-costs, the revenue cover and its margin.
- 3The storyWhy the role feels essential, and what you hope it will bring in.
- 4The commitmentName the cover, or redesign the role before the offer.
THE QUESTIONS
- What does this role cost in a full year, on-costs included?
- Which revenue pays for it, and what margin does that revenue earn?
- Is that revenue already won, or still a hope?
- What leaves your desk in the new person's first month?
- What number will you read at day 90, and what will you do if it is not there?
Before the next session, the founder brings back one of three things: the named revenue cover, a smaller or later version of the role, or a decision to wait.
WHAT CHANGES OVER THE PROGRAMME
No hire without revenue cover
By month 6, the test is how every hire starts, not a one-off exercise.
NOW
- The role is approved because it feels essential.
- The salary is known and the cover is unnamed.
- Savings or the facility fund the first months.
- Nobody has written what the new person takes over.
BY MONTH 6
- Each hire has its revenue cover named before the ad.
- Roles without cover are redesigned, staged or delayed.
- The first handover is written before the start date.
- A day-90 measure decides whether the hire is working.
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 the example, the hire is not made on hope. It is delayed until the cover is named, redesigned into a smaller role that the margin can carry, or approved with the cover written down, the first handover defined and the day-90 measure set. Illustrative, not a client result.
WHY IVANKA
The numbers are read with you, not at you
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 hard question, and holds you to the decision you write down.
The Salary Cover Test is one of the tools inside that work. It does not replace your accountant or your recruiter, and it does not decide who you hire. It makes the revenue that has to pay for a role visible before you commit to it.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
Who fits, and who does not
It fits
- You run a $500K to $3M business growing while cash is tight.
- You are about to hire a role you have not tested against revenue.
- You want to name the cover before the offer, not after.
- You will write the first handover and keep to it.
It does not fit
- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want a recruiter or a done-for-you hiring fix.
- The role is already fully covered by signed work.
- You have decided to hire whatever the numbers say.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
It is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Salary Cover Test for each hire
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 Salary Cover Test is one of the tools inside the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about the Salary Cover Test
Is the Salary Cover Test right for my next hire?
It fits any hire whose cost is not already paid by signed work. Ivanka Menken uses it inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring when a founder is about to advertise a role that feels essential and the revenue that pays for it has not been named. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and the test has no separate checkout.
What happens in the session?
You bring the role and the draft ad. Ivanka Menken asks for the full yearly cost, the revenue that covers it and the margin on that revenue, then you write the first handover and the day-90 measure. You leave with the cover named or the role to redesign. It is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What changes after six months?
Every hire starts with the test. In Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, Ivanka Menken holds you to naming the revenue cover before the ad goes out, staging or redesigning roles the margin cannot carry, and reading a day-90 measure for each new person. The programme is 12 fortnightly sessions over 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What is not included?
Accounting, tax, employment law and financial advice are not included, and Ivanka Menken does not recruit for you or choose the candidate. Your accountant and adviser do that work. Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring gives you the thinking partner and the discipline around the decision. It runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Name the cover before you make the offer
If you are about to hire and the revenue that pays for the role is not written down, start with Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring. The Salary Cover Test is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.