Stop Working for Free: The Distribution-First Reset

Before we get started…

This week’s newsletter is all about how to start taking real money OUT of your business…and specifically, the process I used to take one of our portfolio companies from $0 in distributions to $50K+ in distributions every single month, in less than 90 days.

But if you want to see the “operating system” that makes those distributions automatic (instead of a one-time victory lap), you need to check out this video I just posted…

And if you like this newsletter and you want my help installing these systems in your business (so it pays you every single month…whether you’re in the office or not), you can get the details and apply to work with me here.

Ok, back to this week’s issue…

I heard some version of that exact line three separate times last week, from three different business owners, in three different conversations at a mastermind I attended.

All three run eight-figure companies with big teams and happy customers. On paper, they're winning.

In reality, they're burnt out…because every month, after everybody else gets paid, there's nothing left for THEM.

Their business is bigger, but their paycheck is smaller.

If that sounds familiar, here's the fix: a five-step process I call the Distribution-First Reset.

It's the exact process I ran inside one of our portfolio companies last year that took us from $0 in distributions (basically working for free) to consistent $50,000+ distributions every single month…in less than 90 days.

I'll show you exactly what we did as we go, including a copy-paste AI prompt that does the hardest math for you in about 60 seconds.

Here's how it works…

Last year, one of our portfolio companies was stuck at $6M in revenue, dead flat, and not one dollar distributed in almost two years.

The turnaround didn't start with a growth goal.
It didn't even start with a profit goal.

It started with a distribution goal: take $50,000 out of the business, every month, starting in 90 days or less.

Your turn. Here's how to size your number:

That $50K number came out of a particularly terrible June, when the leadership team was asking the typical question:

"What can we do to generate more leads and sales?"

…and getting the typical answers (expensive, time-consuming, random acts of marketing that hadn't worked before).

So I proposed a different question:

"What would need to be true to distribute $50,000 a month?"

That one question forced some very different discussions. Now you're going to run the same play:

I've since asked this same question to multiple clients and portfolio companies and the answer has never once been, "We need more leads."

The "What needs to be true" question gets the ball rolling. Now we want to leverage AI to keep it going.

Copy and paste this prompt into Claude or ChatGPT, along with your P&L:

When the list comes back, the flagged items almost always add up to more than the gap, which means the cash you've been waiting for is already in the business.

Fair warning: you're probably not going to like what the list says.

The things standing between you and your number are almost never $89 software subscriptions. They're:

There are rarely any “easy wins,” because if the answer were simple, easy, and painless, you would have already done it

So here's how to re-underwrite each flagged item:

And when you feel yourself hesitating (and you will), ask one more question:

"Is the pain of making this call worth finally getting paid what I deserve…or am I willing to keep working for free?"

You can’t have it both ways…

You can’t be upset that “everyone is getting paid but me” while also not being willing to make the difficult decisions that’s keeping everyone paid… but you.

Make the call, or quit yer bitchin’.

At my company, the tough calls took about 60 days, and the process really, really sucked.

But by Q4 the business was healthier, more profitable, and had kicked out more in distributions than the previous two years COMBINED.

Here's how to make it stick:

That monthly distribution is the forcing function that keeps the bloat from creeping back in.

And if this whole exercise is starting to sound a little selfish, here's the rest of the story…

My "stuck" company that had been flat for two years and distributed $0 in profit is now:

In other words, this isn't just about "greediness," it's about cutting the weight and adding the fuel your business needs to grow.

Distributions are the ultimate sign of a healthy business. If a business can pay its owner, it’s healthy.

If it can’t… it isn't.

⚡️ Action Step: Pick your distribution number this week (start at 5 – 10% of monthly revenue) and put a 90-day date on it. Take it to your next leadership meeting and ask the question: "What needs to be true?" Then run the AI prompt above with your P&L and re-underwrite every NO and MAYBE on the list.

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes…

-Ryan

Ryan Deiss
Co-Founder and CEO, The Scalable Company

P.S. Everything I just described gets A LOT easier when your business runs on real systems instead of running on you.

That's why the first thing we do with every client is install a custom "operating system" so the business runs, grows, and actually pays you… without depending on you for everything.

Click here to see how it works.