There are two distinct ways money reaches an owner and they behave completely differently.
A wage is an expense of the business. It reduces profit, it is taxed as employment income, and it usually carries payroll taxes.
A draw or distribution is not an expense. It is the owner taking money the business has already earned. It reduces cash and does not reduce profit.
Which are available depends on how the business is structured, and that is a question for your accountant rather than a preference.
Why it distorts the numbers
Two things, and both mislead in the same direction.
A draw looks like the business is doing better than it is. Profit is unaffected while the cash leaves, so a business paying its owner entirely by draw shows a healthy profit and a shrinking bank balance — one of the common versions of profit and cash diverging.
An unpaid or underpaid owner makes margin look better than it is, by exactly the amount they are underpaying themselves. See profit margin — the honest figure includes a market wage for the work the owner personally does.
The test worth applying
If you replaced yourself with a hire at market rate, would the business still be profitable?
If yes, the business works and the owner is choosing how to be paid. If no, the business is currently funded by the owner's labour, and growth does not fix that on its own.
Keeping it visible
Record owner payments against a person rather than into a general expense category, so they can be excluded when looking at what the business actually costs to run — see business identity for where owners are recorded.
Tax
Draws are usually not taxed at the point they are taken, which catches people out — the tax arrives later on the profit. See tax reserve.