If you’ve tried the original Profit First and it felt like something was off, you’re not wrong. The original system was built for service businesses — consultants, agencies, businesses where revenue comes in and profit is what’s left after expenses.

Ecommerce is different in three critical ways.

First: inventory. A service business doesn’t have $50,000 sitting in a warehouse waiting to be sold. Ecommerce does. The Profit First allocations have to account for inventory as its own line — not lumped into operating expenses.

Second: platform fees. Amazon, Shopify, and other marketplaces take their cut before you even see the money. Real revenue for an ecommerce business is net of those fees — not gross sales.

Third: cash timing. In services, you invoice and collect. In ecommerce, you pay for inventory months before you sell it. The system has to build in a buffer for that cycle.

Profit First for Ecommerce adjusts the allocation percentages and account structure to reflect these realities. It’s not a workaround — it’s the right tool for the right business.