Let's Talk Money 💸 : A French designer works 24 hours max and brought home €14K last year
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:
What do you specialize in: Brand and web design
How long have you been in business?
13 years as a designer, almost 4 years as a business owner
Age: 34
Location: France but working worldwide
Debt: House mortgage—70k
Saving: Nope—maybe like 2/3K on good moments
Degrees: I have a degree in communication and graphic design (French degree— 3 years of study)
Do you have a partner, family, or anyone else that helps you financially?
I have a partner who is also building his own business
If you have someone who helps you financially, what does that look like for you?
My partner doesn’t earn a lot yet, but he pays for the house mortgage + school things and I pay for everything children and family related, errands, doctors, clothes, vacations, etc.
Do you have anyone you need to care for? Children, pets, family members, etc. If so, how many?
Two children and one cat who eats too much
Are you full-time or part-time in your business? Do you have another job along with this one?
I’m “full time” in the sense that I don’t have another job but I’m trying to balance being present for my kids and not using childcare so my work weeks are 24h weeks max. (School is from 8:30 to 4:30 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in France)
What was your revenue last year (before taxes)?
Taxes are taken at the source so I don’t know before taxes but I brought home only 14k last year!
How much did you bring home after taxes & expenses last year (profit)?
14k — (36k the year before that!)
What's your average monthly revenue? How much of that do you actually pay yourself?
I try to give myself at least 1k every month, sometimes that’s more.
How many employees/contractors do you have including yourself? What do they do?
Just me.
How much do you pay your contractors or employees?
N/A
What are your services and their average price?
My services range from $900 to 8k. The offer I sell most is one at 2k.
How many clients do you take on during a month?
One or two
How many hours are you working per week?
24
How often do you take time off during the year? Does this affect your income?
I take every one of the kid’s school breaks so that’s… a lot. Probably 14 weeks a year. And yes it affects my income but it’s been a choice all along to create a job that would allow me to do this with them.
In the last month, what type of expenses did you have and what did they cost?
Around €1500
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