Cash Flow
- Revenue Goal: $4,000
- Total Revenue: $4,088.75 (32% decrease from last month)
- Total Expenses: $1,032.64 (40% decrease from last month)
- Net Profit: $3,056.11 (29% decrease)
- Owner Draw: $1,500
I adjusted my monthly goal down from last month because I knew I’d lose a week of child care to spring break. I planned to take that week completely off from client and business development work, so I figured there would be a concomitant dip in income. I ended up spending more this month than I expected again, mostly because I had an annual software subscription come due and I bought a digital product I hadn’t planned on. (It was the Social Proof Sidekick and worth EVERY DAMN PENNY, and no this is not an affiliate link.) But I’m probably putting myself on a business expense moratorium for this month. I’m not super used to having a lot of business expenses, so even though I feel great about all of my investments, I just want to be mindful of my spending. (Not least because estimated taxes are due this month.)
Time Breakdown
Work Time
- Hours Worked: 76.4 (9% increase from February)
- Weekly Average Work Hours: 19.1 (9% increase from February)
- Billable Hours: 31.9 hours
- Course Creation: 15.3 hours
- Marketing: 12.4 hours
- Web Design: 1.2 hours
- Consulting: 2.7
- Web Maintenance: 0.3
- Non-Billable: 44.5 hours
- Billable Percentage: 42% (28% decrease from last month, wah-wah)
Volunteer and Personal Work
- Writing Group Meeting: 0.8 hours
- Actual Writing: 4.8 hours
- Mochi: 3.75 hours
This is not a picture I’m particularly happy with. Despite taking a week off for spring break (which I am quite proud of myself for), I logged more hours than last month! And the vast majority of those hours were non-billable. I found myself pecking at random work shit after school pick up, when I probably need to be spending time with my kid and/or taking care of household chores, and after kiddo’s bedtime, when I definitely needed to be unwinding.
Hourly Rates
Overall Hourly Rates
- Billable Hourly Rate Before Expenses: $128.17/hour (18% decrease from last month)
- Overall Hourly Rate Before Expenses: $53.52/hour (37% decrease from last month)
- Overall Hourly Rate After Expenses: $40/hour (35% decrease from last month)
- Target Overall Hourly Rate: $60/hour
Hourly Rates By Project Type
- Hourly Rate Web Design: $498.75/1.2 = $415.63 (this is super wonky because of a post-project payment for work done in February)
- Hourly Rate Course Creation: $2,175/15.3 = $142.15/hour
- Hourly Rate Marketing: $890/12.4 = $71.77/hour
- Hourly Rate Consulting: $500/2.7 = $185.19/hour
My rates are a bit skewed because I invoiced a bit of work for my retainer client after the fact rather than before, and that income didn’t hit until April had rolled over. And I got paid in March for a spot of work I did at the very end of February. For the sake of simplicity, I calculate my reports with actual money received, not anticipated money. Regardless of that, my hourly rates are lower than I’d like them to be because I spent more time on non-billable work than I really want to. I’m quite happy with my first two Study Hall consulting sessions, though, and hope to market that a bit more.
Monthly Achievements
I started:
- Planning the next phase of my business, which will involve a shift to 1:many offers
I finished:
- Building out my time tracking challenge
- Most of my course materials for my forthcoming pricing course
- A marvelous group program called Community Camp
Reviewing the priorities I set for March:
Improve my sales funnel for Why You’re Undercharging– I’ll be relaunching a souped-up hybrid version at the end of May and I feel really good about the run-up to it.Create a lead-generating presentation for my course creation services– Done! I booked two consultations from the beta run of this presentation and have secured another opportunity to present the same information.- Commit to nudging my overall hourly rate after expenses toward $70/hour, which is only $10 more per hour but requires a lot of attention to billing and expenses – Heh, welp…in all seriousness, this is still a goal, but I’m trying to be more okay with having seasons of lower and higher revenue instead of breaking my back for an arbitrary goal every month.
- Continue working on my personal writing projects; maybe 3000 words in my WIP in addition to whatever other short stories and essays I come out with – Hmmm, I honestly have no idea how much I wrote in my WIP this month, but it probably wasn’t 3,000. (Might not have been far, though?) I probably need to start using my writing tracker again. Scrivener has a publication target and session targets, but as far as I can tell it doesn’t track how much I write in a certain period.
How I succeeded:
I did take an entire actual week off from work for…maybe the first time ever. We got to spend time in nature right after news of the Atlanta hate crimes broke, so it was easier for me to unplug and rinse my brain out for a few days. I also followed through on several business development projects that I believe will pay off relatively soon, and I learned a heckuva lot of good shit about community design.
How I could have done better:
My billable ratio wasn’t great and I logged more time outside of my usual work hours than I would generally like.
Priorities for April:
- Switch off work after kiddo comes back from school. (It’s relatively easy to stay out of my office if I put my mind to it, and I’ve reinstated app usage limits on my phone.)
- Find something else to do instead of work. My business besties sent me a care package after Atlanta that included a counted cross stitch kit, which has been a good alternative activity besides just burying my face in work or doomscrolling.
- Do some voice of customer research for some of my forthcoming 1:many business/freelancing education offers.
- Do some lead nurturing and authority building for my course creation offers.
Want to get a better grip on your time so you can grow your business income? Join my upcoming Time Tracking Challenge starting May 3, 2021!
