Payroll is the largest line item in your business. It's also the one most owners manage by feel — setting salaries based on what they can afford this week, making raises based on who asked and how urgently, building a compensation structure out of twelve individual negotiations that were never meant to connect.
The result is a payroll problem that doesn't announce itself. It compounds quietly. Margin erodes a little each year. Good people leave — not always for more money, but for more certainty. Revenue grows, but the ratio between what you pay and what you make moves in the wrong direction. You work harder and wonder why the numbers don't reflect it.
The Owner's Payroll Problem gives you the framework to fix that.
What the book delivers:
The payroll-to-revenue ratio — the single number that tells you whether your compensation structure is sustainable, and exactly what to do when it isn't. For most service businesses, the healthy range is 25–35%. Above 40%, you have a structural problem. This book shows you how to calculate it, benchmark it, and act on what you find.
A compensation architecture built on tiers and advancement triggers — not gut feel and individual deals. Your best people aren't leaving for more money. They're leaving because they can't see a clear path forward. This book gives you the structure that changes that.
A benefits framework that doesn't require a large-company budget. The book shows you what your team actually values at your size, and how to deliver it without overextending the ratio during slow periods — including QSEHRA and ICHRA options most owners under $5M have never heard of.
Incentive design that drives outcomes instead of rewarding activity. Most incentive plans measure the wrong thing. This book gives you the four-question framework that designs plans backward from the outcome the business actually needs.
Owner compensation structure — the most neglected payroll decision in small business. How to separate your operating salary from profit distribution so your financial statements tell the truth and every decision you make from them actually means something.
A hiring and onboarding system that turns a new hire into a contributor instead of a liability. The behavioral interview framework, the 90-day onboarding system, the internal equity check before every offer.
The performance and accountability framework for the conversations most owners avoid — the quarterly review, the accountability conversation, the performance improvement plan, and the termination process that's clean enough to navigate with dignity.
Who it's for.
Service business owners with revenue under $5M who are done making their most consequential compensation decisions without a system. If you've ever set a salary and immediately wondered if you got it wrong, given a raise because the timing felt impossible to refuse, lost someone you couldn't afford to lose, or looked at your payroll line and felt the unease without being able to explain it — this book was written for you.
What it costs and what it's worth.
The frameworks in this book will change every compensation decision you make from this point forward. One better hiring decision pays for it. One retention you prevent pays for it many times over.
The e-book delivers the complete 11-chapter framework — ratio calculator, compensation tier template, interview checklist, 90-day onboarding system, and annual review process — the full working toolkit, not just the reading material.
Book 01 of 04 in the Gillespie Method series. The Owner's Payroll Problem is the entry point — the people and compensation system every business under $5M needs before any other growth decision makes sense.
Payroll is the largest line item in your business. It's also the one most owners manage by feel — setting salaries based on what they can afford this week, making raises based on who asked and how urgently, building a compensation structure out of twelve individual negotiations that were never meant to connect.
The result is a payroll problem that doesn't announce itself. It compounds quietly. Margin erodes a little each year. Good people leave — not always for more money, but for more certainty. Revenue grows, but the ratio between what you pay and what you make moves in the wrong direction. You work harder and wonder why the numbers don't reflect it.
The Owner's Payroll Problem gives you the framework to fix that.
What the book delivers:
The payroll-to-revenue ratio — the single number that tells you whether your compensation structure is sustainable, and exactly what to do when it isn't. For most service businesses, the healthy range is 25–35%. Above 40%, you have a structural problem. This book shows you how to calculate it, benchmark it, and act on what you find.
A compensation architecture built on tiers and advancement triggers — not gut feel and individual deals. Your best people aren't leaving for more money. They're leaving because they can't see a clear path forward. This book gives you the structure that changes that.
A benefits framework that doesn't require a large-company budget. The book shows you what your team actually values at your size, and how to deliver it without overextending the ratio during slow periods — including QSEHRA and ICHRA options most owners under $5M have never heard of.
Incentive design that drives outcomes instead of rewarding activity. Most incentive plans measure the wrong thing. This book gives you the four-question framework that designs plans backward from the outcome the business actually needs.
Owner compensation structure — the most neglected payroll decision in small business. How to separate your operating salary from profit distribution so your financial statements tell the truth and every decision you make from them actually means something.
A hiring and onboarding system that turns a new hire into a contributor instead of a liability. The behavioral interview framework, the 90-day onboarding system, the internal equity check before every offer.
The performance and accountability framework for the conversations most owners avoid — the quarterly review, the accountability conversation, the performance improvement plan, and the termination process that's clean enough to navigate with dignity.
Who it's for.
Service business owners with revenue under $5M who are done making their most consequential compensation decisions without a system. If you've ever set a salary and immediately wondered if you got it wrong, given a raise because the timing felt impossible to refuse, lost someone you couldn't afford to lose, or looked at your payroll line and felt the unease without being able to explain it — this book was written for you.
What it costs and what it's worth.
The frameworks in this book will change every compensation decision you make from this point forward. One better hiring decision pays for it. One retention you prevent pays for it many times over.
The e-book delivers the complete 11-chapter framework — ratio calculator, compensation tier template, interview checklist, 90-day onboarding system, and annual review process — the full working toolkit, not just the reading material.
Book 01 of 04 in the Gillespie Method series. The Owner's Payroll Problem is the entry point — the people and compensation system every business under $5M needs before any other growth decision makes sense.
