Fully Booked VA Blog

November Income Report – My Diversified Freelance Business

Welcome to my third income report – for the month of November, 2014.

Here are September and October’s income reports, if you feel like reading back. Spoiler alert: I’m happy to say that (for now) my results continue to keep getting better and better.

As a recap:

The First Few Months

I’m keeping a profit-and-loss statement for each month, as well as a rolling total. I enter in income as it is received (rather than as it is billed) and do the same for expenses. Here’s what it looked like for the first few months:

  • April-June: $0 income – $205 expenses = -$205 profit (-$205 rolling profit)
  • July: $805 income – $191 expenses = $614 profit ($409 rolling profit)
  • August: $1,540 income – $264 expenses = $1,276 profit ($1,685 rolling profit)
  • September: Income $2,280 – $555 expenses = $1,725 profit ($3,410 rolling profit)
  • October: Income $3, 480 – $595 expenses = $2,885 profit ($6,295 rolling profit)

Other Deductions

I take 20% of my net monthly profit and transfer that into a savings account for taxes. Next year when I do this full-time, I’ll set up and pay quarterlies. For now, I just set it aside so I have it when the time comes.

I also believe in tithing. I tithe to our church on my normal (day job) income and have chosen to support a missionary family in Costa Rica with my freelance income. This can’t/won’t always be the case, but it’s a fun reason to try to make more money!

November’s Results

Income: $4,155, a 19% increase month-over-month!

Expenses: $1,006, which is higher than I anticipated, but worth it.

Net Income: $3,149 (after expenses, but before tithe/tax). This is a 9% increase month over month!

Income Breakdown

Writing: 53%

Editing: 4%

Virtual Assisting Work: 43%

Expenses

I had a large amount of expenses again this month. The majority were for a new theme, logo creation, website help and business cards. How do you like the new look?

I also hired my first subcontractor to help me with a project. I’m also still paying for my job board membership, my accounting program and now pay Grayson to monitor my website and keep it up and running. That guy is awesome, so if you need any website help, make sure to hit him up! (Some of these are affiliate links, which means that I may financially profit if you click them and make a purchase).

Of course there are still those pesky fees when getting paid, but I’ve been trying to figure out ways to get them down. I’m not going to jinx myself this month and say that I anticipate the next month to be lower;-). Fingers crossed though!

Thoughts on the Month

November was a good month. Hitting the $4k mark in revenue was huge! It was another building month and I took on quite a few new clients/projects. I continue to be optimistic that freelancing is the right move for me!

I spent a lot of time this month working on my new 30 day email course for brand new freelancers. It took up a lot of time, and of course I haven’t made any money yet! It’s now for sale (with a low intro price of only $30), so check it out! I’m hopeful it’ll be a passive income stream for the future.

Goals for the Rest of 2014

My goals for the rest of the year are to continue to increase my income and get it as close to replacing my current salary as I can. I’m getting closer all the time!

My last day at my current job is December 23, 2014. I’m excited to be able to focus on my new business full-time and am busy planning my official launch.

I’ve ordered business cards, which I plan to send out with our family’s Christmas card. I also have some guest posting opportunities lined up. I’ve toyed with writing some press releases to send out to our local papers as well. Why not, right?

Concerns

My biggest concern this month is that I’m not able to continue to keep increasing my monthly revenue. As long as I can continue to pitch and convert jobs and manage my time well, there shouldn’t be any reason I can’t. It is a fear though!

It’s also probably going to be impossible to continue to beat my last month’s numbers (unless I create a bunch of products/passive income streams). So eventually, I’m going to have to be okay with the fact that it’s not always going up and up and up. I’m just trying to be honest though and keep it real with you folks!

Keep Your Head Down

If you’re currently hustling to build a business, we’re in this together. I’d love to support you, if you’re willing to do the same. Leave a comment letting me know we’re in the trenches together or a place that I can go to support you. Fan my FB page, follow me on Twitter or Google+ to stay in touch! We’ve got this!

Photo Credit: Unhindered by Talent

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Gina Horkey

Gina Horkey

FOUNDER & CO-OWNER

Gina Horkey is a married, millennial mama from Minnesota. Additionally, she’s the founder of Horkey HandBook and loves helping others find or become a kickass virtual assistant. Gina’s background includes making a living as a professional writer, an online business marketing consultant and a decade of experience in the financial services industry.

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