How to Pay Yourself More as a DTC Founder #shopify #agency #fractionalcfo #ecommerce #dtc

Welcome to the Ecom Scaling Show, brought to you by Free to Grow CFO and Aplo Group! Join hosts Jon Blair and Dylan Byers as they dive into one of the most important decisions for DTC founders: how to pay yourself without jeopardizing your brand’s growth.

In Episode 27, they break down the two types of founder pay: salary vs. profit distributions. Plus, how inventory, cash conversion cycle, and equity balance shape your ability to pull money out of the business. This episode is about designing your cash flow model around what you want to earn, and then reverse-engineering operations to support it.

This isn’t just theory, it’s the playbook to help founders stop waiting for an exit and start paying themselves now.

00:00 – Why most founders don’t pay themselves enough and how to build a pay-first mindset.
00:55 – How fall season and BFCM planning affect e-commerce cash flow and founder pay.
02:00 – The dangers of strong profit but weak cash flow in scaling DTC brands.
03:50 – Understanding payroll vs. distributions when paying yourself as a founder.
05:30 – Why every e-commerce owner should pay themselves a market-rate salary.
06:45 – How to structure founder distributions for sustainable profit and growth.
09:00 – Using your equity balance and retained earnings to time distributions.
12:30 – Smart use of debt for inventory financing and freeing up cash flow.
15:00 – How inventory planning drives marketing strategy and profitability.
18:30 – Applying the Profit First framework to founder pay and business discipline.
21:00 – Balancing salary, profit share, and cash flow to pay yourself more.
23:00 – Key takeaways on building wealth and paying yourself intentionally as a founder.

Free To Grow CFO: https://freetogrowcfo.com/
Aplo Group: https://www.aplogroup.com/
Jon Blair on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathon-albert-blair/
Dylan Byers on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-byers-046010149/

#ecommerce #dtc #finance #agency #podcast #shopify #ads #scalingyourbrand