It’s time for another income report! I’m doing things a little differently this time because I wasn’t able to get February’s income report out in time. Because I owe you a report, I decided to make this one a quarterly report. This means it covers the first quarter of 2018 (January, February and March).
Spoiler alert: I’m making more money than ever.
Also spoiler alert: Taxes are a bummer.
So here we go!
Why income reports?
Income reports are important because they show you the profit and loss in my business. In other words, you see what I’m earning versus what I get to keep.
In a world where business coaches and online marketers inflate their numbers all the time, I want to be fully transparent in showing you how this stuff actually works with the numbers.
I also want to show you what’s possible. If you’ve been following me for a while you may remember that I made $5 my first month as an online entrepreneur. I also knew nothing about sales or online marketing. Hell, this wasn’t even a thing. So if I can do it then you can do it too.
And finally, I want to show you where I regularly INVEST money in my business. It costs money to keep this all going, and I want you to see where that money goes. I see way too many small business owners spending money on the wrong things. While I’m not perfect, I can tell you I’ve always made an annual profit because I know how to take calculated risks.
I’m also working hard this year to increase my profits by reducing unnecessary expenses. I started the process this quarter so we’ll see how it goes.
So without further ado…
2018 Q1 Gross Revenue: $28,241
2018 Q1 Expenses: $11,648
Profit: $16,593
Below you can see screen shots of my P&L report from QuickBooks:
2018 Q1 Summary:
Uh, can you say, “Holy shit!”
I made a promise to myself many years ago that I’d hit six-figures when I’m 30. Looks like I’m going to pull it off!
I’m actually kind of shocked that I earned this much money this quarter simply because, I mentioned in a previous income report, I went through a lot of stuff in my personal life the first quarter so I don’t feel like I’ve been on the ball. In fact, it wasn’t until the last week of March when I started feeling like myself again.
When I rant the report I even texted my accountant with, “Oh my God! Is this real?!?”
(Because that’s your reaction when you’ve been working your tail off for years and are starting to see your goals coming to life.)
Here’s what I think went really well:
- Big influencer campaigns are coming through! This is something I started planning for a couple of years ago and now I’m getting the deals. (P. S. Click here to check out my free webinar on how to grow your influence online!)
- I’m making more money per article than ever as a writer. (P.S. Click here to get my course on how to start a business as a freelance writer!)
- Since I get so many questions about business, I make sure to capitalize on it.
- Instagram and Twitter are my bread and butter for building my email list.
I’m here thinking about what I can possibly achieve when I am feeling 100% like myself. I mean, if I’m earning around $10,000 a month when I’m not feeling well, then I can definitely earn more when I feel great, right?
Now here’s what didn’t go so well:
Taxes
I think I finally figured out cash flow in my business, but now I have another financial challenge to figure out: taxes.
You don’t even have a minute to celebrate how much money you’re making before you get slapped with a bigger tax bill.
Granted, I’m trying to stay positive and grateful. After all, if you are paying more in taxes it’s because you’re earning more money. It’s actually a good problem to have.
My issue seems to be I didn’t save enough for quarterly taxes because, like I said, I didn’t even realize I was earning this much money. For example, I feel like my head was in the clouds for all of February.
Fortunately, I can still pay the bill, but boy this feels like the numbers get more complicated as time goes on. This is why I just leave it to the professionals.
What’s to come…
As we head into the second quarter, I’m thinking about two things. One, how do I keep this momentum going? And two, how do I increase those profits?
I’ve already started drastically reducing expenses – including getting rid of costly expenses I no longer need thanks to the systems I’ve built.
I’m also working on getting more influencer campaigns, writing more and – of course – enrolling more students into my Persuade to Profit program.
I may have more travel on the books the second quarter so we’ll see how this goes. Last year I struggled with frequent travel and managing my business, but my travel this year seems like it will only be business so we’ll see what happens.
Overall, I have a pretty good feeling about 2018.