Grow Your Business - Practical Advice for Small Business Owners Who Want More Profit and Freedom

Paul Sweeney
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You’re an expert at what your business does — but running a business takes more than technical skill. Grow Your Business is a practical podcast for business owners who want clearer direction, better results, and more confidence in the decisions they make every day. Hosted by Paul Sweeney, Chartered Accountant and Certified Business Advisor, this show breaks down the key things business owners need to know to build profitable, resilient businesses that perform in any environment. Each episode focuses on the fundamentals that actually drive results — sales, profit, cash flow, systems, leadership, and long‑term growth. You’ll learn how to make smarter decisions, avoid common mistakes, and put practical strategies in place that help your business grow without unnecessary stress. This podcast is for business owners who want: More sales and stronger marginsBetter control over cash flow and profitabilityClearer systems and processesConfident leadership and decision‑makingSustainable growth — not burnoutMore freedom from the business, not more pressure The aim of Grow Your Business is simple: to give business owners the knowledge, tools, and confidence they need to run successful businesses and enjoy the rewards they originally set out to achieve.

  1. 5d ago

    Is Your Business Actually Healthy? Let's Find Out.

    Is your small business actually healthy, or just busy? In this final episode of the Cash Flow series, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney brings together everything from the last nine episodes into one practical business health check you can run in a single sitting. Most small business owners judge the health of their business by one number, usually revenue, and hope it tells the full story. It doesn't. A business can be profitable with cash stuck in receivables. It can be growing with systems that can't keep up. It can have strong margins and no forecast, so nobody sees the gap coming. Health isn't one number. It's several, all pointing the same direction. Paul walks through a five-point business health check covering cash flow predictability, whether you're making money or just making sales, whether cash is actually reaching you, whether the business could survive a bad month, and whether it's running on a system or on you. Includes what separates the businesses that come through difficult periods well from the ones that don't. 👉 Download the free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course and find out which of these four drains is costing your business the most: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow In this episode: A five-point business health check for small business owners, run in one sittingHow to tell whether your business is actually healthy, or just busy and growingWhy cash flow predictability matters more than your current bank balanceThe difference between businesses that survive difficult periods and those that don'tHow all ten episodes of this series fit into one weekly systemResources Mentioned 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 🎧 Episode 9 — Is Growing Too Fast Killing Your Cash Flow? 🎧 Episode 1 — Why Profitable Businesses Run Out of Cash 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    Is Your Business Actually Healthy? Let's Find Out.

  2. Oct 28

    Why Growing Fast Can Be the Biggest Cash Flow Killer

    Is your small business growing fast, more revenue, more staff, more orders, and somehow still feeling tighter on cash? In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney explains why growth has a cash cost before it has a cash benefit, and gives you three checks to find out if your business is scaling at a pace your cash flow can actually support. Growth is supposed to be the win, so it rarely gets questioned the way a slow month does. But fast growth often means fast-growing fixed costs, more wages, more stock, more overhead, all committed before the extra revenue it's meant to generate ever lands. That's not a success problem. It's a pacing problem, and pacing problems stay invisible right up until they aren't. Paul walks through three checks every growing small business should run: whether cash is actually growing at the same rate as revenue, how many months of overhead the business could cover if growth suddenly stalled, and whether systems have genuinely kept pace with the size of the business, or are still running like a much smaller one. Includes a real case study of a business that scaled from $2 million to $8 million in turnover, and the systems that made that growth sustainable instead of risky. 👉 Download the free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course and find out which of these four drains is costing your business the most: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 👉 Grab the free Pretium Solutions eBook, "Start Improving Cash Flow Today" for five practical steps you can start today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ In this episode: Why growth has a cash cost before it has a cash benefit, and why that cost is so easy to missThree checks to find out if your business is growing faster than its cash flow can supportHow many months of overhead cover you'd have if growth suddenly stalledWhy systems that worked at half your current size can quietly undermine fast growthA real case study: scaling from $2M to $8M in turnover without losing control of cash flow📘 Free eBook — Start Improving Cash Flow Today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    Why Growing Fast Can Be the Biggest Cash Flow Killer

  3. Oct 21

    Are You Actually Making Money? Check These Numbers First

    Watching your revenue climb but still not sure if your small business is actually healthy? In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney reveals the five numbers that make your cash flow leak-proof, the ones that actually predict trouble, long before revenue ever does. Revenue only answers one question, how much came through the door. It says nothing about whether you kept any of it, whether you've actually been paid for it, or whether cash is quietly tied up somewhere else in the business. That's not a revenue problem. It's a measurement problem. Paul walks through five specific numbers every small business owner should check: your actual profit margins, how long it takes to turn sales into cash, how much cash is tied up in stock or unfinished work, the gap between your revenue growth and your profit growth, and how many weeks of cash runway your business actually has. Includes a real case study of a tradesperson whose profit grew faster than his revenue, once he finally checked the number that mattered. 👉 Download the free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course and find out which of these four drains is costing your business the most: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 👉 Grab the free Pretium Solutions eBook, "Start Improving Cash Flow Today" for five practical steps you can start today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ In this episode: Why revenue alone can't tell you if your small business is actually healthyThe five numbers that make your cash flow leak-proofHow to check whether growth is building your business, or just making it biggerHow your cash flow forecast turns into a single number: your cash runwayA real example of profit growing faster than revenue, and what changed to make that happenResources Mentioned 📘 Free eBook — Start Improving Cash Flow Today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    Are You Actually Making Money? Check These Numbers First

  4. Oct 14

    Why You're Flying Blind With Your Cash Flow

    Making financial decisions without a cash flow forecast? In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney shows you the exact 5-step process to build a simple cash flow forecast for your small business, no accounting background required. If you don't know what your cash position looks like four weeks from now, every decision you make between now and then is a guess, not a plan. Most small business owners run their entire operation this way, reacting to whatever the bank balance says today, with no idea what it's going to say next week. Paul walks through five practical steps to build a working cash flow forecast: starting with your real cash position, listing committed outgoings, listing realistic incomings, mapping the gap week by week instead of month by month, and building in a buffer with a fixed weekly review day. This weekly forecast check isn't a separate habit to remember, it's one part of Paul's Business Planning Operating System, the weekly rhythm that connects your cash position to your priorities and your plan in the same sitting. 👉 Download the free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course and find out which of these four drains is costing your business the most: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow In this episode: Why most small business owners never build a cash flow forecast, and why that's a visibility problem, not a complexity problemThe 5-step process to build a working forecast in under 20 minutesWhy mapping your cash position weekly, not just monthly, catches problems before they become a crisisHow the weekly forecast check fits inside the Business Planning Operating System, rather than being one more thing to rememberA simple diagnostic question for each step, to apply to your own business todayResources Mentioned 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    Why You're Flying Blind With Your Cash Flow

  5. Oct 7

    Why Borrowing More Won't Fix Your Cash Flow Problem

    Thinking about a loan to fix your small business cash flow? In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney explains why borrowing doesn't fix a cash flow problem, it postpones it, and gives you four checks to run before you sign anything. When cash gets tight, the first instinct for most small business owners is the same. Get a loan. Increase the credit card limit. Dip into personal savings. None of that fixes the reason cash was tight in the first place. It just adds a repayment on top of the original problem. Paul breaks down four checks every small business owner should run before borrowing: what problem the loan is actually fixing, whether you've forecast the repayments against best, average, and worst-case cash flow, whether the purchase is a genuine business case or a vanity purchase in disguise, and whether you've built the business case before you've even started organising finance. Includes a breakdown of how simple interest rates can hide the real cost of a loan, and why some business credit cards and short-term lenders cost far more than they appear to. 👉 Download the free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course and find out which of these four drains is costing your business the most: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 👉 Grab the free Pretium Solutions eBook, "Start Improving Cash Flow Today" for five practical steps you can start today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ In this episode: Why borrowing doesn't solve a small business cash flow problem, it delays itFour checks to run before taking out any business loan or financeHow to forecast best, average, and worst-case scenarios before committing to loan repaymentsThe real difference between simple interest and the true annual cost of borrowingHow to tell a genuine business case from a vanity purchase dressed up as oneResources Mentioned 📘 Free eBook — Start Improving Cash Flow Today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    Why Borrowing More Won't Fix Your Cash Flow Problem

  6. Sep 30

    How Your Day-to-Day Operations Are Quietly Killing Your Cash

    Think your small business cash flow problem is a sales or invoicing issue? It might actually be hiding in your day-to-day operations. In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney reveals four operational habits quietly draining cash from small businesses, none of which show up as a line item on your profit and loss. If your business runs on memory, whoever's free that day, whoever remembers to follow up, you're losing cash right now, and it's invisible until you know where to look. Every delay in how work actually gets done is a delay in how fast that work turns into cash in your account. Paul breaks down four specific operational drains on small business cash flow: undocumented processes that only one person understands, approval bottlenecks that slow everything down, manual duplicated data entry across disconnected systems, and the absence of a regular review rhythm. Includes a real case study of a $3–4 million business that fixed exactly this, and regained both cash flow confidence and hours of lost time. 👉 Download the free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course and find out which of these four drains is costing your business the most: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 👉 Grab the free Pretium Solutions eBook, "Start Improving Cash Flow Today" for five practical steps you can start today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ In this episode: Why small business cash flow problems often hide in daily operations, not sales or invoicingFour specific operational habits quietly draining cash, and the exact fix for eachA simple diagnostic question for each drain, to check against your own business this weekA real case study: how a $3–4 million business improved cash flow visibility through better systemsResources Mentioned 📘 Free eBook — Start Improving Cash Flow Today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    How Your Day-to-Day Operations Are Quietly Killing Your Cash

  7. Sep 23

    The Invoicing Habits That Are Draining Your Cash

    Looking for simple ways to improve cash flow in your small business? In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney breaks down three invoicing habits quietly draining cash from small businesses, and the exact fixes that stop it, starting this week. If you finish a job and invoice it "at the end of the month," you're already losing money. An invoice you haven't sent isn't neutral, it's cash you don't have, and every day it sits unsent is a day you're funding your own business out of pocket for no reason at all. Paul walks through three specific invoicing habits costing small businesses real cash: invoicing on a schedule instead of on completion, vague or missing payment terms, and having no follow-up system for anything overdue. Includes a real case example of a business that brought its debtor days down from 424 days to 45, without changing a single thing about their sales. In this episode: Why small business cash flow management often comes down to invoicing habits, not sales performanceThree specific invoicing habits quietly draining cash, and the fix for each oneA simple diagnostic question for each habit, to check against your own invoices this weekA real example of debtor days dropping from 48 to 14, and what actually changedResources Mentioned 📘 Free eBook — Start Improving Cash Flow Today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 📧 The Business Planning Operating System: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/business-planning-course 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast. About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    The Invoicing Habits That Are Draining Your Cash

  8. Sep 16

    Why More Sales Isn't Always More Cash

    Struggling to understand why a great sales month left your small business with less cash, not more? In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney breaks down exactly why sales growth puts pressure on cash flow, and the five specific ways growth quietly drains a business, even when the sales themselves are genuinely good. Every sale is funded before it's paid for. You cover materials, wages, and resources before you deliver, before you invoice, and before the customer actually pays. That gap is normal, but when sales grow fast, it grows with them, and most small business owners don't see it coming until the cash is already gone. Paul walks through the five real costs of growth, stock tying up cash, overlooked pricing and margin, resource availability and cost, timing and what's actually in your control, and the cost of rushed delivery, and includes a real client case study showing how a business scaling from $2 million to $8 million in turnover got ahead of exactly this problem. In this episode: Why sales growth puts strain on cash flow, and why that's normal, not a discipline failureThe five specific ways growing businesses quietly lose cash during a strong sales periodA simple diagnostic question for each cost, to check your own last big sales monthA real case study of a business that scaled from $2M to $4M in turnover, and the systems that made that growth sustainableResources Mentioned 📘 Free eBook — Start Improving Cash Flow Today: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/start-improving-cash-flow-today/ 📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow 📧 The Business Planning Operating System: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/business-planning-course 🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/ 🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast. About the Host Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.

    Why More Sales Isn't Always More Cash
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About

You’re an expert at what your business does — but running a business takes more than technical skill. Grow Your Business is a practical podcast for business owners who want clearer direction, better results, and more confidence in the decisions they make every day. Hosted by Paul Sweeney, Chartered Accountant and Certified Business Advisor, this show breaks down the key things business owners need to know to build profitable, resilient businesses that perform in any environment. Each episode focuses on the fundamentals that actually drive results — sales, profit, cash flow, systems, leadership, and long‑term growth. You’ll learn how to make smarter decisions, avoid common mistakes, and put practical strategies in place that help your business grow without unnecessary stress. This podcast is for business owners who want: More sales and stronger marginsBetter control over cash flow and profitabilityClearer systems and processesConfident leadership and decision‑makingSustainable growth — not burnoutMore freedom from the business, not more pressure The aim of Grow Your Business is simple: to give business owners the knowledge, tools, and confidence they need to run successful businesses and enjoy the rewards they originally set out to achieve.

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