The shocking gap between perceived and actual business profits.

Your employees have a secret story about you. 

In their minds, you’re taking home massive profits while they do all the work. 

How massive?

According to Yahoo Finance, the average employee thinks their boss pockets 36% of every dollar that comes in the door.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Your team probably thinks you’re pocketing more than a third of every dollar that the business earns.

Now, here’s the reality check: 

The median profit across 212 industries is just 6.5%. 

Even Walmart only takes home 2.4%. The gap between perception and reality couldn’t be wider.

But this isn’t just about numbers – it’s about trust.

When your team believes you’re secretly getting rich while they’re working hard, it creates a toxic undercurrent in your culture.

They start to see you as someone who’s hoarding wealth instead of sharing success. 

Someone who prioritizes personal gain over team wellbeing. 

Someone who’s taking advantage of their hard work.

They’re making up these stories because we’re not telling them the real one.

They see the revenue coming in. They know the hourly rates you charge. They calculate rough numbers in their heads. And without real data, they fill in the gaps with assumptions.

Meanwhile, they don’t see: 

• The debt payments that eat into profit. 
• The overhead costs of running the business. 
• The feast-and-famine cycles of agency life. 
• The personal risk you’ve taken on.

The solution? Open your books – even just a little.

You don’t need to share every financial detail. But showing basic numbers like net profit margins, gross margins, and operating costs can transform their understanding of the business and their role in it.

This isn’t about defending your income – it’s about creating understanding through transparency.

When your team understands the real financial story, everything changes. 

They make better decisions. They trust your leadership. They become partners in profitability. 

Most importantly, they stop seeing you as the “wealthy boss” and start seeing you as the leader who’s building something meaningful together.

At Open Book CFO, we specialize in helping you create appropriate financial transparency in your agency, building trust through smart number sharing, and developing systems that align team and owner interests. 

We help you teach financial literacy at every level of your organization.

Ready to bridge the trust gap in your agency?

Book a free 30-minute strategy call today.

Keep reading The Winning Agency for more insights on building an unstoppable business.