Let's Talk Money 💸 : A copywriter from Florida pays herself $5,500 monthly.
Welcome to Let's Talk Money, a newsletter dedicated to showing creative entrepreneurs what's actually happening behind the scenes of their peer's businesses.
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Let's get into this week’s entry:Â
What do you specialize in: Copywriting
How long have you been in business? 2023 will be my fifth year in business
Age: 29
Location: Florida
Debt: $7k on a credit card, $1k left on car payment
Saving: $21k in savings
Degrees: Masters degree
Do you have a partner, family, or anyone else that helps you financially?Â
Spouse who works full time
If you do have someone that helps you financially, what does that look like for you?Â
We split rent in half, and we split other bills— he’ll pay one, I’ll pay another
Do you have anyone you need to care for? Children, pets, family members, etc. If so, how many?Â
1 pet
Are you full-time or part-time in your business? Do you have another job along with this one?Â
Full time in business
What was your revenue last year (before taxes & expenses)? Â
$202k
How much did you bring home after taxes & expenses last year (profit)?
My personal take home pay is $5500/mo, I don’t have exact info on profit, but I pay $30k in taxes and invest thousands back into my business each year with a surplus of around $25k-$30k in my business account pretty much at all times
What's your average monthly revenue (before taxes & expenses)? How much of that do you actually pay yourself?Â
Lowest month was $6800, highest was $23k… but averaging around $16k months… I pay myself the same each month regardless so then if things are slow I can always pay myself the same salary and I always have money in my business. If I need to buy something for my business, the money is there.
How many employees/contractors do you have including yourself? What do they do?
3 contractors — assisting, editing, writingÂ
Sometimes hire out design needs
How much do you pay your contractors or employees?Â
I pay them all $50 an hour
What are your services and their average price?Â
I mostly do website copywriting, with projects ranging from $3k to $10k, with most spending somewhere in the middle
How many clients do you take on during a month?Â
Varies — sometimes just 2-3, other times 4-6
How many hours are you working per week?
Approx. 35 hours per week
How often do you take time off during the year? Does this affect your income?Â
2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week at thanksgiving, usually a week here or there throughout the year — no impact on income
In the last month, what type of expenses did you have and what did they cost?Â
Business Expenses
Would be safe to say I spend 20-30 percent of business on contractors, softwares, crm, course platform, website stuff, coaching, design, graphics, Facebook ads, etc.
Personal Expenses
Personal training — $1k/mo
Rent $2600/mo split with spouse
Car insurance $300/mo
Car payment $161/mo
Food — $400-$700/mo
Retirement savings/ investment — $500/mo
$500 a month to pay off credit card debt
Spouse covers insurance — $300 a month?
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