June 2014 Income Report

The June results are in! I’m very pleased with how I’ve arranged the 2014 summer months in my creative business. I’ve put a few projects on the back burner while my children are on school break. Therefore, I’ve been able to focus my working hours on my dream clients and The Summer Shift group coaching program, and enjoy the rest of the day with my kids.

I’m enjoying a nice balance between family connection, personal recharging and meaningful work. That balance is a rare (and more often than not, nonexistent) commodity in creative business, and so I’m taking notes on how I’ve achieved it and what I can do to continue this work-life balance so I can share my methods with all of you!

Here’s How I Spent My Working Hours

Alright, on to the income report. Today I’ll be combining the monthly posts “How I Spent My Working Hours” + “How Much I Made This Month.” This year I’m sharing how I spend my working hours each month and exactly how much I earn from those hours. Click here to read my theory on working less to achieve more.

Since reducing to four-hour workdays, I have completed the following tasks in 48 hours (June 1-30, Monday through Friday with 2 days of community volunteer work, 1 holiday, 1 family, and 5 personal days off):

The Summer Shift (a group coaching concentrate): 24 hours

Marketing Creativity (this blog) posts: 6 hours

Marketing Creativity project production: 8 hours

Energy Shop inventory: 4 hours

Energy Shop packaging and handling: 2 hours

Energy Shop ordering and research: 1 hour

Guest posts: 2 hours.

Inbox zero: 1 hour

The Summer Shift

Like I said in the opening of this post, I’m pleased with how I’ve arranged the summer. I’ve let what’s most important take priority and put down the rest of my self-imposed deadlines until I can pick the pace back up again in fall. I was able to drop everything for a weeklong vacation with beloved family, and I’m looking forward to another break from work again in July.

What’s lovely is, I’m still able to give thorough attention to what matters (and pays) most in my business. I’ve simply cut out some of the extras, such as new designs for the Energy Shop and frequent guest posting.

Here’s How Much I Made in June

As you know, it’s full-disclosure 2014 for me. Not only will I be breaking down how I spend my working hours each month, I’m also reporting exactly how much I profit from my creative business.

In June 2014, I earned a net income of: $2,480.91

I start almost every discussion on money or building a rewarding creative business with full disclosure that I believe a multi-faceted business is a must. Therefore, in each monthly report, I’m going to list the source of my income from highest- to lowest-paying for that period. June’s sources of income were:

1. Marketing Creativity’s Etsy shop and coaching programs (mainly, The Summer Shift)

2. Energy Shop Jewelry

I think it’s very interesting to note that in May (and seemingly out of the blue) I decided to give up smaller streams of income to focus on what matters most to me: my dream clients and the rest of the items on my “If I Knew I Could Not Fail, I Would …” list.

To do so, I had to say “no” to a lot of busywork in order to say “YES” to the things I wanted most (here’s the full story). June is typically a slow month for my business, but the results of this big leap were phenomenal. This is one of my highest earning months of the year (based on hourly wage).

And now for my favorite part!

Creative Business vs. Traditional Workplace

I made this comparison in the first month’s report, and because I love breaking down the numbers (and proudly showing them to my husband 😉 ), I’m going to continue. By end year, I’ll be able to average out an official hourly wage for myself.

After I carefully calculated my working hours this month, I did some math. First off, minimum wage in my state is $7.25 per hour. Let’s say I went out looking and landed a really good job, doubling minimum wage at $14.50 per hour. Let’s even say that this job offered me flexible hours so that I was only ever working while my children were in school (35 hours per week).

Here’s what I make now …

$2,480.91 (June earnings after expenses and taxes) / 48 hours = $51.68 per hour

That’s roughly $620.22 per 16-hour, work-at-home week (after taxes)

Vs. what I might make in the traditional workplace …

$14.50 x 35 hours = $507.50 per 35-hour week at a traditional job (before taxes)

For an estimated total of $1522.48 per month, $380.62 per week (after taxes)

And, of course, this is the season that has always stumped me on the comparison. My children are on summer vacation, and this is the number one reason I pursued a work-at-home career!

See May’s income

See April’s income

See March’s income

See February’s income

See January’s income