Tiny Biz Letters #2
a super transparent monthly column that takes you behind the scenes of my self-employment
My dear reader.
Welcome to the second installment of Tiny Biz Letters!
This is my new monthly newsletter-within-a-newsletter for paid subscribers, which gives you a suuuuper transparent behind-the-scenes look at my experience of self-employment.
In the comments you are always welcome to ask any & all follow-up questions — financial transparency as a tangible act of anti-capitalism is deeply important to me, and I love talking openly about money and business.
(For more context on both this project and my business overall, check out the first installment from last month.)
Okay, here we go!
Monthly Goal Review
At the end of December I set the following high-priority business goals for January:
1. Take Friday January 5 off so that I can be totally rested and well-resourced to host the biz planning workshop on Saturday & Sunday.
Status: Done!
It felt lovely to set this supportive boundary for myself. Too often I make the mistake of thinking that I can just push push push in all areas of my life at the same time and then magically still be able to show up for every single important thing with full presence, but… that is not how my body/brain works. Scheduling a little time off before (and after!) the big energy expenditure of group facilitation is really nourishing for me, and I’d love to prioritize this more often going forward.
2. Send cute little book promo boxes to fellow writers and hikers to celebrate the launch of What We Owe to Ourselves.
Status: In progress!
The first 12 boxes got mailed out in January (yay!) and each one contained: a copy of the book, a handwritten note on monogrammed mountain stationary, a fun mushroom sticker, a tiny mountain print, plus a few packets of fruit snacks. (I talk about fruit snacks so much in the book that I was like wow okay these absolutely must be included lol)
My motivation for sending these boxes is twofold: 1) I want to show tangible appreciation and love for the writers & hikers who have inspired me, and 2) I hope these folks enjoy the book enough to recommend it to their own readers and communities.
3. Invite 8-12 people to join Bloom, my 10-month peer-support mastermind group for fellow self-employed folks that kicks off at the end of January
Status: Done!
2024 is my second year facilitating this group, and I just love it so much. Talking vulnerably about small biz stuff is one of my favorite things (clearly!), and this longer-term format allows for real intimacy, support, brainstorming, and encouragement to happen over many months. There are 9 folks in this year’s cohort (plus me!) and I’m already so excited about how kind, smart, funny, thoughtful, and generous they all are.
Celebration Circle
Things I’m celebrating in my biz from January (it was a big month for me!):
Publishing my second book
Not stressing myself out with an overly full/chaotic/hyper-urgent book launch plan
Hosting the two-day biz planning workshop (and genuinely feeling like it was fun and valuable for the folks who attended)
Hosting the first three (of seven) sessions of my Word Camp writing group (and noticing the added benefit of feeling so much more invested in my own writing as a result)
Showing up for additional weekly writing dates with two friends
Filling Bloom with 9 right-fit people
Actually doing my QuickBooks updates on January 31 (!) instead of letting it drag on into February or later (staying on top of this each month is a goal of mine)
Using my standing desk more often (too much sitting leads to hip and low back issues for me)
Getting a good start on my goal of front-loading my 2024 income (to help supplement my salary during lower-earning months, like summer)
Revenue Streams: A Quick Breakdown
Below you’ll find a list of my current revenue streams, although they aren’t all active at the same time.
Substack (paid subscriptions to Wild Letters)
Book sales (for HTBA and WWO, both distributed via IngramSpark)
Get Shit Done Club coworking group (upcoming cohort starts in March!)
Word Camp writing group (in session now, through end of Feb)
Quarterly biz planning workshop (concluded, but a little revenue is still coming in from folks on longer-term payment plans)
Bloom, a small, 10-month, peer-support mastermind group for fellow solopreneurs, freelancers, and tiny biz owners (just started; most folks are on 12-month payment plans)
In-person retreats (Oct 2024; sold out; all folks are on payment plans so revenue is indeed coming in, but I don’t pay myself until after the retreat ends and all expenses have been covered — instead I hold the registration payments in a separate high-yield savings account as they come in and use that money to pay all retreat-related expenses)
One-off classes / workshops (none scheduled at the moment, but later this year I want to host a 3-week workshop I’ve slowly been creating called How Much Money is Enough?)
January Income
Below you'll see the amount of money that went into my owner's comp account last month — meaning the amount that goes toward paying my salary once everything else is accounted for, such as business operating expenses and taxes.
(For more on how I handle the actual flow of money into and out of my business, see the section in TBL #1 called Profit First: My Cash Flow Management System)