The problem isn’t just pay gaps or access to funding. It’s that many women are undercharging, overdelivering, and carrying the weight of everyone else’s expectations — often at the expense of their own income and sustainability.

In this episode of *Money Secrets*, Fi talks about something that doesn’t get said often enough: many women business owners simply aren’t making enough money — despite being busy, capable, and doing “all the right things”.

Listen to Episode 61

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Why revenue — not funding — is the real issue for most women founders. While venture capital inequality gets attention, most small business owners don’t need funding — they need sustainable income.
The hidden “gender revenue gap”. Fi shares her perspective from decades in the numbers: women business owners often earn significantly less than men, but this gap is rarely measured or discussed.
How social conditioning impacts pricing and boundaries. From a young age, many women are taught to be agreeable and accommodating — traits that can lead to underpricing and difficulty holding firm boundaries with clients.
Why underpricing and overservicing go hand in hand. Working harder to avoid uncomfortable conversations may feel easier in the moment, but it leads to burnout, resentment, and unsustainable businesses.
The real cost of scope creep. Delivering more than promised (often unpaid) doesn’t just hurt profitability — it damages client relationships and personal wellbeing.
Why difficult conversations are essential for growth. Raising prices, reinforcing scope, and setting boundaries are uncomfortable — but they are what create work-life balance and financial stability.
The importance of paying yourself properly — including superannuation. Many women business owners neglect their own long-term financial security, creating future inequality even when their businesses appear successful.
Why strategy alone isn’t enough. Advice and plans don’t change businesses — implementation does. And implementation often requires support, accountability, and courage.
What meaningful support actually looks like. Not cheerleading or empty positivity, but communities that challenge you, hold you accountable, and help you move through fear and doubt.
Why discomfort is part of building a successful business. Growth often requires actions that feel deeply uncomfortable — but those actions create freedom, stability, and better outcomes over time.

Women Aren't Making Enough Money (Ep#61)

Money Secrets Podcast – Episode 61

Introduction

We've made a lot of progress as a society in many areas, but one thing that hasn’t changed enough is our relationship with money. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, we need to understand the secrets to making money in small business.

The more we talk about money — especially the secrets that usually stay behind closed doors or on the golf course — the more empowered we become. My mission is to get more money into the hands of good people, specifically business owners like you.

Because I believe small business can change the world. And to do that, we need to be making more money.

Acknowledgement of Country

This episode was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. I’d like to acknowledge them as the Traditional Owners and custodians of this land and water that I live, work and play on.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.

Women in Business Aren’t Making Enough Money — And Hard Work Isn’t Fixing It

Women business owners are not making enough money.

Not because they aren’t capable.
Not because they aren’t working hard.
And not because they lack strategy.

In this episode of Money Secrets, Fi Johnston unpacks a reality that doesn’t get enough airtime — the gender revenue gap inside small business. While we regularly discuss the gender pay gap and funding gap, we rarely talk about the fact that women-led businesses are often generating significantly less revenue than their male counterparts.

Drawing on 25 years of experience as a chartered accountant working closely with small and medium businesses, Fi explores why this is happening — and what actually needs to change.

If you’re a woman in business who feels stuck, stretched, or underpaid, this conversation will feel both confronting and validating.

The Conversation We’re Not Having: The Gender Revenue Gap

Around International Women’s Day, we hear the same statistics:

The gender pay gap
The gender funding gap
The burden of unpaid care
The expectation that women speak for free

These conversations matter.

But what’s often missing is a deeper question:

Why are women business owners earning less revenue?

From decades inside the numbers — balance sheets, profit and loss statements, cash flow reports — Fi sees a pattern:

Women are underpricing.
Women are overservicing.
Women are absorbing unpaid labour.
And it’s eroding profitability.

The gender revenue gap is real — and largely unmeasured.

The Invisible Scaffolding Behind “Success”

Many high-profile business success stories follow a neat, linear narrative:

Start here → do this → grow → succeed.

But what isn’t often acknowledged is the scaffolding behind those stories.

Many male founders have significant support at home — whether unpaid domestic labour or paid help — allowing them to focus intensely on business growth.

Women, on the other hand, are often:

Managing unpaid care
Carrying the mental load
Running households
Navigating social expectations

That invisible labour impacts time, energy, and risk tolerance — all of which directly affect business revenue.

Why Women Underprice and Overservice

From a young age, many girls are socialised to:

Be agreeable
Avoid conflict
Seek approval
Take care of others
Not appear greedy or “too much”

Those messages don’t disappear when we start businesses.

They show up in:

Hesitating to raise prices
Adding “just one more thing” to a project
Avoiding scope conversations
Working longer hours to avoid awkwardness

Underpricing feels safer in the moment.
Overservicing feels generous.

But over time, these behaviours:

Reduce revenue
Increase resentment
Create burnout
Damage client relationships

And they widen the revenue gap.

The Freelancer’s Hidden Problem: Scope Creep and Self-Doubt

Fi sees it daily.

Women are working themselves into the ground.
Delivering more than promised.
Not being paid for the extra work.

Often, the extra work isn’t even requested.

It’s driven by:

Self-doubt
Fear of not being good enough
Desire to prove competence
Avoidance of difficult conversations

Instead of asking:

“Am I charging enough?”

We ask:

“How can I give more?”

That cycle is unsustainable.

Why Strategy Alone Isn’t Enough

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

You can have the perfect business strategy.
It will still fail if your behaviours don’t support it.

Women in business don’t need more free PDFs or five-point plans.

They need:

Mindset shifts
Financial literacy
Boundaries
Habits
Accountability
Community

Because strategy without action?

As Fi says — might as well be a margarita.

You drink it and forget about it.

Why Profitability Changes Everything

When women business owners become more profitable:

They can hire support at home
They can hire properly in business
They can invest in superannuation
They reduce long-term financial inequality
They ease the mental load

Profit isn’t greed.
It’s stability.

It’s freedom.
It’s sustainability.

And it directly improves quality of life.

The Real Question

If you’re feeling stuck in your business, ask yourself:

Am I underpricing?
Am I overservicing?
Am I avoiding difficult conversations?
Am I expecting success to feel comfortable?
Am I waiting to feel “ready” before charging properly?

Building a profitable business isn’t linear.

It’s messy. Emotional. Human.

But it is possible.

Good Money Club

If this conversation resonated, you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Good Money Club is open right now.

Inside Good Money Club, women business owners:

Learn to understand and manage their own money
Build financial roadmaps
Develop sustainable pricing strategies
Get accountability and support
Increase revenue and take-home pay
Make bold, ethical money decisions

If you’re ready to:

Earn more
Pay yourself properly
Build a sustainable business
Reduce money stress
Close your own revenue gap

You can learn more about Good Money Club while doors are open.

Final Thoughts

If you are a woman in business who feels like you’re doing everything “right” but the money still isn’t reflecting your effort, this isn’t a personal failure.

It’s a pattern.

And patterns can be changed.

Making more money in your business isn’t about becoming ruthless, aggressive, or someone you’re not. It’s about making decisions that support your future self. It’s about charging in alignment with your value. It’s about setting boundaries early instead of burning out later. And it’s about recognising that profitability isn’t selfish — it’s responsible.

The gender revenue gap won’t close through wishful thinking or more cupcakes. It closes when women:

Charge properly
Stop overservicing
Pay themselves
Invest in superannuation
Build businesses that actually support their lives

You don’t need to hustle harder.

You need to decide differently.

And then take action.

Outro

Thank you for listening to Money Secrets. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a review. Your support helps us get these conversations into the hands of more good people who deserve to thrive in business.

We’ve come so far as a society in many ways, but money is one of the areas where progress hasn’t been enough. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, it starts with understanding the secret: money in small business.

In this podcast, Money Secrets, host Fiona (Fi) Johnston—Chartered Accountant, small business advocate, and impact enthusiast—dives into the conversations we need to have about money. The secrets that once stayed behind closed doors (or on the golf course) are finally out in the open.

Fi’s mission? To get more money into the hands of good people, like you. She believes small businesses have the power to change the world, and the key to making a bigger impact is to make—and manage—more money.

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Thank you to everyone involved for bringing this podcast together. We are excited to hear from you with any questions, feedback or suggestions for future episodes that you might have. Send a Direct Message to @peach.business

If you are excited for what’s to come, please like this episode, follow the podcast and share it with your friends. We are thrilled you're here.

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