There’s no magic number.
Not $10,000 or $30,000 or $100,000.
Your mother will not suddenly sing your praises because your business grosses X thousand dollars. There’s no secret bell that’s going to ding; no whirligig that’s going to be delivered from the universe when you decide to bring home a paycheck and make your “cute” little business into the real thing.
Your business provides income when YOU decide it will.
Which is, incidentally, the key to getting your loved ones on board with and believing in your business. Instead of hearing about your intentions and how you’ll start bringing home income after the purchase of that workshop or that piece of gear, they’ll get to hear about the dollars you brought home last week.
Even if it isn’t much, bringing income home this year is better than saying you’ll start charging or start making money “later” (or worse — “next year”).
Let’s say your business grosses $1,000 each month, and you end up spending $422 on expenses monthly. You might be tempted to say you “only” gross $1,000 per month, thus making your business “cute” or “little” instead of legit.
Truth be told, your business makes $578 a month. You’ve had your eye on that thingamabob and those classes, but why not decide to get paid instead? Take $250 home, squirrel $250 away for taxes, and you’ll have enough left over to pay expenses with a 10% cushion to keep your biz going.
Choose to bring home income instead of minimizing your “little” business.
That $250 a month you just decided to bring home will add up to $3,000 this year. Enough to make your father-in-law bite his tongue because your “little” business paid for a trip to Walt Disney World for the family. Enough to get your hubby stoked about the new 42″ TV and all those paid electric bills. Plenty to pay for fancy cocktails with your besties once a month.
Instead of thinking of your business as only making you $x per month, concentrate on your decision to be paid instead of purchasing another thingamabob, template, whozawhatsit, or $10-a-month service you don’t really need.
Your shift in attitude toward your “little” business will be obvious to your loved ones, and they’ll respond with more support than you thought possible.
Taking your business seriously comes from making the most of the money you currently have instead of looking forward to that point in the (near) future when you’ve “made it” and can pay yourself.
That point is right now. This minute.
Today, choose to pay yourself for all your hard work, whether you’ll be rewarded with a few coffees or a few thousand dollars this month because of it. A quick rule of thumb for dividing up your gross income: one-third for business expenses, one-third for income, one-third for taxes.
Now go, choose. Let your work pay you well.
And if you need help with numbers and cashflow in a ‘Put what where, Kristen?’ kind of way…meet Connie Vanderzanden. She’ll help you master cashflow without boring your brains out with BLAH BLAH BLAH. Promise.
