January 2017: Income Report $15,608
Woah! What a way to start the year. January was a total whirlwind. In just a few short weeks we launched a new program, started a podcast and Emylee adopted Penelope! We definitely learned a lot, pivoted and restructured a whole bunch — so read on to see all the strategies we started to implement in January of 2017.
Why we do income reports?
In an effort to be as transparent as possible in our own business we have chosen to make 2017 the year we showcase the good, the bad and the ugly. That means we talk about money on months we bring home the bacon and on months we’d rather not discuss finances. We hope you learn a LOT from these reports. Replicate and tweak our strategies to use in your own business. Get inspired, learn from our mistakes and grow your own online business.
Please note links marked below with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. By clicking and purchasing we may earn a commission on this sale. This comes at no cost to you and only is for products and companies we truly believe in!
January Income
Affiliate Income: $413
Course Sales: $15,195
TOTAL INCOME: $15,608
January Expenses
Stripe/Paypal Fees: $352
Libsyn: $20
MotionMail: $10
ConvertKit*: $171
Zencastr: $216
1099 Filing: $10
Independent Contractors: $177
We Edit Podcasts*: $1053
Photo Props: $11
Postage: $59
Office Supplies: $9
TOTAL EXPENSES: $2088
NET PROFIT: $13,520
Payroll to Abagail & Emylee: $0
That was a mouthful! Yesh…. Now that we got all the numbers all out of the way, I am guessing you got some questions. So, here is what happened, what we learned and what we will never do again.
Launching, Business & Baby
Y’all, if you haven’t met us yet, then this may feel a bit more foreign. But if you know us, then you know we are crazy. We had the most absurd launch plan in the history of launch plans, that included launching a new course literally days prior to Emylee’s adoption.
The good news was we had planned ahead. We had blog posts written and emails drafted. We had the course created. We were set to go. It was just time for autopilot. Nonetheless — WHAT ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH WERE WE THINKING? Please, for the love of all things bacon flavored, do not plan something so crucial to your bottom line days before something so life altering.
But we made it out on the other side still breathing. Our monthly review sheet literally says “we are still alive”. In retrospect, we probably should have stuck to a bit more of what we know, but heck, let’s make it spicy.
The new launch went smashingly well. In the initial launch of the Follow Through Method we had 192 students enroll and made a tad over $14k. Keep in mind, the launch had an early bird in December — so only $5044 is captured in January’s report.
So yes, for those of you wondering, that means we passively sold nearly $10k in other courses — even we are shocked.
Podcast Nation
On January 2nd, we launched The Strategy Hour Podcast. In less than 24 hours we rose to #14 in the Top Business Podcasts on iTunes! The first month we released 12 episodes — yes, a staggering 3 per week. Again, did we spike our Kool-Aid? All the episodes were pre-recorded in November and December so we took January off from recording while Emylee soaked in baby snuggles.
If you are super curious about what we think the podcast has done for our business or if it might be right for you, I highly suggest you listen to episode 26 — The Truth about Launching a Podcast.
Hired An Army… Or Should We Say Team
Our quarter one goal was to outsource #allthethings, i.e. hire people to do the things that no longer make sense for us to do. In 2016 we had already grown our team substantially, but on the docket for 2017 was hiring an additional VA to manage emails and customer service, a designer for graphics, a photo editor and an accountant/bookkeeper.
Now this may seem like a lot, but January was a giant wake up call. Emylee was on maternity leave for the majority of the month, i.e. NOT WORKING. And I was having some health issues that prevented me from working me like I had worked before.
This showed us holes. Giant, gaping holes in our business. And we needed to fill them to make sure things wouldn’t fall apart if we stepped away.
By the end of January we had mostly just finished the vetting process, and by the time this article goes live we have actually hired for all the positions — meeting our Q1 goal an entire month early. Hiring sound totally bananas to you? Find out our secret on episode 22 — The Secret to Scaling & Growing Your Team.
Curious about how we still managed to make so much money without working full time? You should definitely listen to episode 18 — Life Proof Your Business — How to Keep Your Business Running While on Leave.
Oops… Maybe We Should Get Paid
You are probably wondering, team? What team? They only spent $177 on contractors and they didn’t even pay themselves. Hold your horses guys. This is slightly deceiving. On January 1, 2017 our business legally changed to an LLC. In the process we changed banks, shuffled all sorts of things around and thus, some things just look funny.
In an effort to keep 2016 in 2016, we asked our contractors to bill us early. Normally they invoice us the month following they work they have done — so all that was captured in last year’s taxes. But because of this invoicing cycle, most of them billed for January in February. And because we were in the middle of hiring a bookkeeper, we waited to pay ourselves a paycheck until the end of February. Which means it won’t actually show on our books for awhile.
Not to worry. No contractor was harmed in the making of this money, lol. They have all been paid, on time. I’m sure you will see that number much better reflected in the months to come.
P.S. Got questions about this? We’d love to give you more info. Just pop your question into our free Facebook group! Looking forward to chatting more soon.
