Top-Line vs. Profit: Busting the Biggest Money Metric Myth with Gwen Bortner
If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, chances are you’ve fallen for one of the flashiest (and most misleading) finance myths: “Brag big about your top-line sales—because THAT’s the sign of true success!” Scroll your feed and you’ll see post after post: “$100k in a day!” “Six figures in seven months!”
But as Annie P. Ruggles and business advisor Gwen Bortner reveal on the very first episode of Squeaky Clean Money, focusing too much on this single, catchy number can actually sabotage your business—and your sanity.
The Top-Line Trap: Why Sales Alone Don't Tell the Whole Story
As Gwen Bortner bluntly puts it, “The filthy lie is that your top line income number is a good metric” 05:13. Sure, it feels great—splashy, impressive, and oh-so-easy to share. But here’s the catch: that big sales number doesn’t tell you if your business is actually thriving.
What really matters? Profit. That’s the money you actually get to keep.
Why We All Worship the Top-Line
Annie P. Ruggles and Gwen Bortner break down why this myth endures:
It’s the Easiest Number to Find: Your sales totals are just a click away, so they get all the attention.
It Feeds Your Ego: Sales spikes give you dopamine hits—those “cha chings” make it feel like you’re winning 09:05.
It’s Public Proof: You can post big numbers, but no one sees your costs, expenses, or net losses behind the scenes.
But as Annie P. Ruggles points out, this obsession is like “blowing smoke up my butt.” Impressive? Maybe. Truthful? Not so much. 09:20
Rethinking Success: The Four Numbers That Matter
Ready to clean house? Gwen Bortner shares a simple, no-nonsense method for tracking REAL business health—not just vanity metrics.
The Four Must-Know Numbers:
Top-Line Income: The total sales or revenue number (the “cha ching”).
Cost of Goods Sold (or Cost of Sales): The direct costs required to create your product/service.
Expenses: All the other costs of running your business (salaries, rent, software, ads, etc.).
Profit: What’s left over after ALL costs are paid. This is the “pocket money” that matters 13:08.
Here's the bottom line: More income does NOT automatically mean more money in your pocket. In fact, you can sell more, but if your costs rise even faster, your profits shrink—or vanish entirely 14:38.
Spring Cleaning Your Money Mindset
You don’t have to obsessively track every little transaction every day. But, as Gwen Bortner recommends, you SHOULD look at these main numbers at least quarterly—and ideally, monthly 09:57.
Check your income AND your costs.
Watch the relationship between those numbers—growth only matters if profit grows too.
Don’t let yourself feel “safe” or “inadequate” based purely on sales. Look deeper for the real story.
A Squeaky Clean Mantra for Business Money
Annie P. Ruggles sums up the episode’s wisdom with a new money mantra from Gwen Bortner:
“Income is important, but profit is what’s in your pocket.” 15:11
Write it on a sticky note and slap it by your desk.
Take Action—Look Beyond the Top Line
If you’re chasing bigger and bigger sales, take a pause. Ask:
How much am I really keeping?
Are my costs creeping up faster than my sales?
What do I need to adjust so profit (not just sales) grows?
Want to dig deeper or get help spring-cleaning your business finances? Connect with Gwen Bortner at everydayeffectiveness.com.
Stop comparing your behind-the-scenes to someone else’s front-page numbers. Real, sustainable business growth is about what stays in your pocket—not what makes the loudest noise online.
