How to Build Wealth While Growing Your Small Business
🕐 Read Time 5 Minutes
You’ve got the clients. You’ve got the revenue. You’ve even got a team (or you’re building one). Business is humming along.
So why, when you look at your personal finances, does it sometimes feel like there’s not much to show for it? This is one of the biggest frustrations I hear from my financial coaching clients. Driven, successful business owners making great money but still feeling like personal wealth building is stuck in neutral.
It’s not because you’re bad with money or because “you need to budget better.” (Ugh. Who wants to hear that?) It’s because building wealth as a business owner takes a different approach. The rules are a little different when you are the business. But with a few shifts, you can absolutely grow both your business and your personal wealth and feel great doing it.
Let’s talk about how.
Business Owner Financial Planning: Separate Business and Personal Finances
If I could shout one thing from the rooftops to every entrepreneur I work with, it would be this: Separate your business and personal finances.
Yes, I know. You’ve probably heard this before. However, far too many business owners still have their personal lives intertwined with their business cash flow. When the business bank account becomes your personal piggy bank, two things happen:
You lose clarity on how profitable your business really is
You lose control of your personal financial strategy
Both of these factors make building wealth more challenging. So, if you haven’t already, start by creating clear boundaries:
Pay yourself a set amount each month (even if you’re the only employee)
Keep business and personal bank accounts completely separate
Establish personal savings and investing goals independent of the business
This provides the foundation to grow wealth in both areas with less stress and greater confidence.
Pay and Treat Yourself Like an Investor (Not Just an Owner/Operator)
Many small business owners fall into the trap of thinking: “If the business is doing well, I’m doing well.” But being an owner/operator is different from being an investor. Investors expect a return. They expect the business to generate consistent income for them personally, whether or not they’re in the weeds every day.
So treat yourself like an investor:
Pay yourself first—don’t wait until “after expenses”
Build personal assets outside the business (investments, retirement accounts, real estate, etc.)
Think long-term about how your business supports your life, not the other way around
This mindset shift helps you avoid becoming too dependent on the business for your lifestyle. It also enables you to step back enough to focus on the next level of business growth.
How to Grow My Small Business Without Sacrificing Personal Wealth
You probably didn’t start your business to spend your days managing cash flow spreadsheets and tweaking operations. Yet that’s where many successful entrepreneurs find themselves stuck. They are working constantly in the business, not building it to work for them.
If you want to grow your personal wealth and business wealth together, making this shift is critical:
Delegate operational tasks so you can focus on strategy and growth
Systematize your processes so the business can run without your constant input
Build leadership capacity on your team
You don’t have to fully “step out” of the business. However, finding a better balance between operator and owner creates more time, more freedom, and more opportunities to grow both wealth and happiness.
Use the Profit First Cash Management Method
One of my favorite tools for helping clients with this transition is the Profit First cash management method. Why? Because it forces intentional financial habits, even when the business is growing fast.
Profit First works by allocating business income into separate accounts, with percentages earmarked for:
Profit (yes, actual profit you take home)
Owner’s pay (your personal paycheck)
Taxes (so you’re not panicking at tax time)
Operating expenses (what it costs to run the business)
This simple structure prevents the all-too-common “I made a lot of money, but where did it all go?” syndrome. It also ensures that you’re consistently building wealth both inside and outside your business.
Price for Profitability (and Maximize Your Time)
Another big wealth-building factor is how you price your services. If your business is generating significant revenue but still feels financially tight, chances are your pricing needs a second look.
Too many entrepreneurs underprice—either to compete, out of fear, or because they haven’t truly calculated the cost of their time and expertise. Pricing for profitability isn’t greedy. It’s smart. It allows you to:
Pay yourself properly
Build business reserves
Invest in team and infrastructure
Free up time for higher-value work (and for your life outside of business)
Your pricing should reflect both the value you provide and the lifestyle you want to support.
Build Recurring Revenue for Consistency and Cash Flow
One of the best ways to build both wealth and sanity as a business owner? Create recurring revenue streams. Retainers, memberships, subscription services, or maintenance contracts provide a base of predictable revenue and do wonders for:
Cash flow stability
Stress reduction
Ability to plan and invest confidently
Recurring revenue also makes it easier to pay yourself consistently and fund personal wealth-building strategies rather than riding the rollercoaster of feast-or-famine months.
If you don’t have recurring revenue options yet, it’s worth exploring how to incorporate them into your offerings.
Avoid the Business Owner’s Trap: Lifestyle Inflation and Over-Reliance on the Business
Let’s examine the trap I see too many business owners fall into. As the business grows and income increases, personal spending tends to creep up. That new car, a bigger house, extra vacations. You’ve earned it, right? Sure.
But if your lifestyle scales in lockstep with business revenue, you’re putting yourself at risk:
You become too reliant on the business to fund your personal life
You create pressure to keep the business growing just to maintain lifestyle expenses
You delay building personal wealth that could create more freedom long-term
Instead, aim to build a strong personal financial strategy independent of the business.
That means:
Living below your means, even as income rises
Investing regularly outside the business
Building emergency savings and retirement funds
Designing your personal life with intention, not just letting income dictate it
This approach gives you options—whether you want to sell the business someday, take a sabbatical, or simply enjoy more freedom along the way.
Building Wealth Your Way and a Free Resource to Help You Start
There’s no one “right” way to build wealth as a business owner. But there are patterns I see among those who do it successfully:
They separate business and personal finances
They pay themselves intentionally and invest outside the business
They work on the business to create time and freedom
They price and structure the business for profitability and consistency
They resist the temptation to let their lifestyle inflate too fast
Most importantly, they align their financial habits with their values, building both wealth and a life they love (without sacrificing one for the other).
At Financial Fitness Coaching, this is precisely what we help our clients do. Not restrict their spending. Not squeeze the joy out of their business. But create systems and habits that support the life they actually want to live.
If you’re ready to take the first step, we’ve got a free resource to help you. Download Separating Personal + Biz Expenses. This resource will guide you through practical steps to organize your finances and lay the foundation for building personal wealth while growing your business.
When you’re ready to go deeper, book a free discovery call. We’ll chat about your goals, your business, and how we can help you create a financial strategy that works for you: no pressure, no judgment, just support, guidance, and a friendly face who gets it. Let’s help you make your business work for you, not the other way around.