⏱️Quick Win: Get cash flow under control in 5 minutes

Never get caught off guard by your runway again with this simple Monday morning ritual

Hey there,

One of the most stressful moments as a founder? Logging into your bank account and realising you have way less money than you thought — or worse, discovering you're closer to running out than you expected.

I used to check our cash flow sporadically (usually when I was worried), which meant I was constantly stressed or getting annoying surprises.

Now I have a simple 5-minute ritual every Monday morning that gives me complete confidence about our runway and catches any red flags before they become problems.

Here's exactly how you can set this up for your start-up:

The 5-Minute Monday Morning Cash Flow Check

What you'll need:

• A simple spreadsheet (I use Google Sheets)

• Access to your business bank account

• Your upcoming expenses list

Minute 1: Log your current position Open your bank account and write down your exact balance. Don't round it — use the real number.

Minute 2: List this week's definite outgoings Write down everything you KNOW you're paying this week:

• Salaries, freelancer payments etc.

• Software subscriptions

• Admin costs

• Any invoices you've already committed to

Minute 3: Add your expected income List any money you expect this week, but be honest about the probability:

• Confirmed client payments (90-100% likely)

• Outstanding invoices (60-80% likely)

• Pipeline deals (20-40% likely)

Minute 4: Calculate your runway Take your current balance, subtract this week's outgoings, add your most likely income, then divide by your weekly burn rate.

This gives you weeks of runway remaining.

Minute 5: Flag the red flags Look for:

• Runway dropping below 12 weeks

• Large payments due next week you hadn't planned for

• Expected income that hasn't materialized for 2+ weeks

• Unusual spikes in spending

Why this works

This ritual has saved me plenty of times. Last month, I spotted that a major client payment was 3 weeks overdue during my Monday check — if I'd waited another week to notice, we would have missed our contractor payments.

The key is doing it the same time every week. Monday morning works because:

• You're planning your week anyway

• Weekend payments have usually cleared

• You have time to act on any issues before Friday

Your simple template

Create a Google Sheet with these columns:

• Date

• Bank Balance

• This Week Out

• This Week In (Likely)

• Runway (Weeks)

• Red Flags

Why this is a win for founders

• Peace of mind: You always know exactly where you stand financially

• Early warning system: Spot problems while you still have time to fix them

• Better decision making: Know if you can afford that new hire or software subscription

• Investor confidence: Always have accurate numbers when investors ask about runway

The whole process takes 5 minutes but gives you confidence for the entire week.

Honestly, this simple ritual will get rid of those 3am "how much money do we actually have?" panic moments.

Try it this Monday and let me know how it goes!

Ciao for now, — Jade

P.S. Want to see my actual cash flow template? Just reply to this email and I'll send it over.