EasyFlow CFO

A teenager working minimum wage over the summer in 1978 could pay an ENTIRE YEAR of public college tuition and still have money left over.

That sounds made up now.

But the numbers check out.

Minimum wage was $2.65 an hour.

Work 40 hours a week for 13 weeks and you made $1,378.

Average in-state tuition at a public four-year school?

$688.

So a teenager could basically earn TWO YEARS of tuition in one summer.

Now look at 2026.

Federal minimum wage: $7.25.

That same summer of work earns $3,770.

Average in-state public university tuition is around $11,950.

You’re more than $8,000 SHORT before we even start talking about housing, food, books, transportation, or anything else.

And this is the part that drives me crazy when somebody says, “I worked my way through college. Kids today should do the same thing.”

They’re not lying.

They probably DID work their way through college.

They’re just describing a financial world that doesn’t exist anymore.

That doesn’t mean college is automatically a bad deal.

It means you better run the numbers BEFORE signing for the loans.

What does the degree cost?

What does that career realistically pay?

Is there a cheaper school?

Could community college knock out the first two years?

Would a trade school or employer-paid program make more sense?

Those aren’t backup plans anymore.

For a lot of kids, they’re the smarter financial move.

The old “just get a degree and it’ll all work out” advice needs to die.

College can still be a fantastic investment.

But at today’s prices, you better know what you’re buying.

Most business owners are not leading like CEOs.

They’re:
✅ Guessing
✅ Reacting
✅ Trying things at random
✅ Hoping revenue fixes everything

But hope is not a business strategy.

If you want better owner pay, better profit, and better cash flow, you need better decisions.

And better decisions come from financial understanding.

Watch this video:
Does your business need a 60 Day Cash and Profit Reset?
https://youtu.be/p8xPri-kcJA

You get a salary for what you do in the business.
You get profit for what you own.
Your salary should cover your cost of living.

Your accountant can usually tell you what you spent.

But can they tell you what every $1 you spend produces?

✅ What do your materials produce?
✅ What do your labor wages produce?
✅ What is your marketing actually generating?
✅ Are your operating expenses helping the business perform better?
✅ Are management salaries producing results?
✅ Is your invested capital generating a strong return?

That is the difference between tracking expenses and managing a business.

Knowing what you spent is accounting.
Knowing what it produces is management.

If you want to understand whether your business is truly built to pay you, start here:

Take the Is Your Business Built to Pay You? Assessment:
https://pay.easyflowcfo.com

Your Numbers Made Easy.

Most business owners are playing the wrong financial game — and losing.

They obsess over taxes.

But taxes may only be 3–5% of revenue.

So the real question is:

Who is managing the other 95–97%?

Because that’s where the real money is won or lost.
• Pricing
• Direct costs
• Direct labor
• Marketing
• Overhead
• Owner pay
• Profit
• Cash flow

A lot of owners think the win is:
“How do I pay less in taxes?”

Wrong game.

The better question is:
“How do I build a business that actually pays me?”

Because saving a little on taxes won’t fix:
• underpriced work
• weak margins
• unproductive labor
• overspending
• tight cash flow
• profits that disappear
A strong business should do more than survive.
It should:
• pay you a market-based wage
• produce real profit
• build cash reserves
• support smarter hiring, pricing, and growth decisions

That’s what this carousel is about.

Not just looking at numbers.

Using them to run the business.

If you want to know whether your business is actually built to pay you:

Take the Is Your Business Built to Pay You? Assessment
👉 https://pay.easyflowcfo.com

Your Numbers Made Easy.