The Maths

I did a little maths on the way home last night.  I had a two hour flight and little else do to but sit there.

I considered myself even on 15 September, which was my one year anniversary.  Any start up costs, fees, licenses, supplies, etc etc would have been paid for and I was working on zero debt.

Soon after I had to replace a missing supply order (jars, etc) costing about $250us, and then had to refund/replace two missing orders.  I could have simply refunded them and not replaced the items, but I do pride myself on my excellent customer service.  So I was out double the cost of those orders which was about $160us.  Then an order of butters arrived in poor condition (about a month overdue), so I estimated a loss there of about $50us.

So soon into my second year I was down about $460us.

For the next month and a half I had a total of 62 orders.  After the above loss,  Etsy fees, costs, etc etc, I estimated I made about $2us an hour, working an average 40 hour work week.  Now, I put in more than 8 hours a day and often work weekends, but I was going to stick to more traditional numbers.

Yes, I am making a profit, but no.  I cannot say at this time it’s worth it.

I wasn’t sure what the numbers would work out to, and I sort of regret pulling things apart like this.  It’s not really about how much I can make, but the fact that I love doing what I do.  But, it’s turning out to be costing me and my family too much, too much time away for what?

So again, this isn’t goodbye!  Just… a pause until I can work things out.  Find a little bit better of a balance!