Ten dollars.
So little?
But here's the thing — I pulled that $10 out on purpose, using a percentage-based system that automates the decisions so I don’t have to agonize over whether I can afford it this month.
That's unusual. More unusual than you might think.
Most small businesses at this stage aren't profitable at all
Let me give you some context.
A Sprout-stage business — one bringing in somewhere between $500 and $5,000 a month — is typically running at a deficit. Money goes out as fast as it comes in, and the owner either pays themselves inconsistently or not at all.
Profit is a concept for later, something that happens once things "really get going."
That's the norm. It's also a trap.
When profit is treated as what's left over after everything else, it almost never exists in reality. Sure your accountant will say “you made X profit last year!” (on paper). But if the money isn’t in your hot little hand, you think “big whoop. Guess I’ll ‘reinvest’ since I can’t actually take it out now.”
That's a recipe for a money-eating monster business that instantly takes over every inch of ground you manage to gain.
The alternative — and this is what I teach — is to decide what profit looks like before you spend anything (ie “pay yourself first”). You pull a small percentage off the top, set it aside, and make your operating expenses work with what they get.
Parkinson’s Law says that things will expand to the space that you give it: specifically “tasks to the amount of time,” but it applies to money as well.
When you throttle the amount of available money, you're forced to think creatively and really field test whether you need things, rather than just signing up for every software trial that looks handy.
At $1,052 in revenue, my profit percentage produced $10.
Not that much, true, but the point is to build the habit while things are small and the stakes are low.
When I'm making $50,000 a month, this 1% profit habit will mean $500 and that's something to get excited about. 
Profit isn't what's left over. It's what you decide to keep first.
Finance Report
- Clients: 3
- Gross Revenue: $1,052
- Taxes Set Aside: $210
- Owner's Comp: $389
- Operating Expenses: $414
- Profit: $10
Profit, taxes, and owner's comp percentages come out before anything else. That way unforeseen expenses can't eat them up before I move them into other accounts to protect them.
Doesn't look like much now, but that's because these are Sprout numbers. Just wait a year or two. 
What I accomplished in February
- Moved business money to Relay; set up automatic distribution transfers
- Tested new client management software for accounting workflow tracking
- Created Skool gross vs. payout process and recorded a tutorial
- Ran WFM Challenge Live 3.0 — 2 consistent participants!
- Asked for (and collected) testimonials from clients and community members
- Updated services sales page with testimonials
- Updated new member welcome process and Start Here course flow
- Switched to Claude as primary AI assistant; built voice SOP and AE content context
- Created Content Compass doc to hardwire in the slow-business approach
- Started building BABY Content OS (automated content generator)
- Built beta version of the Avocado Audit as a Start Here course completion gift
- Completed WISP plan; filled security gaps (MFA, cyber liability insurance)
- Stopped offering a monthly leaderboard prize — it was putting too much pressure on me and everyone to worry about engagement, which isn't the focus right now
What I didn't accomplish (and why)
Full build-out of BABY Content OS (automated content generator system) — I didn't set it as a goal until the last week of February, and even working with AI takes more time than you'd think.
Manual content creation — recording, editing, and publishing one tutorial took a full week. My goal was two pieces of long-form content every week, and the reality of the workflow takes much longer. I'm planning to use the automated content generator to reduce as much of the manual process as possible.
Why the infrastructure work matters more than the profit number right now
February was a build month.
The Relay setup, the WISP, the welcome flow overhaul, the AI content infrastructure: they didn't directly impact the amount of revenue I made this month, but it WILL directly impact the amount of revenue I make in six months, one year, and five years.
A tree doesn't fruit in the same season it roots.
The number I'm actually watching isn't profit right now. It's client count and systems stability. Both improved in February, so this was a good month. 
Selling onions on the internet
Onions are not glamorous. But pull one out of the ground and you'll find it's been building layers underground for months.
A lot of what I built in February was onion work. It's a lot of behind-the-scenes, “backend” work that doesn't make for good content. 
But it's absolutely essential for what comes next.
Here’s something cool tho: you can sell onions on the internet - literally.
You can also (figuratively) sell the systems, knowledge, and process behind the thing everyone takes for granted. That's actually a whole business model.
Gardening Tip
Now is also a great time to get onion sets or transplants in the ground if you're in a warmer climate — they need a long, cool growing season to size up properly. Don't rush them. (Your business infrastructure works the same way 
)
The percentage-based money system I used to get $10 profit at $1,052 in revenue, in a build month, with $414 in operating expenses is exactly what I teach inside the Avocado Entrepreneur community.
If you want to set it up for yourself so you don’t need to worry about your money anymore, come take the challenge! 
Let's get your finances off the back burner and into a system that actually works.