by Hope
After several years of blogging here, I finally do not believe there is anywhere else I can (or am willing to) cut expenses. While we certainly do not live bare bones, we are generally very frugal in our day to day living.
With that being said, my way forward is to increase my income. I have written about side hustles, passive income and every other way I can think of to make more money. But the bottom line is I have to keep growing my business. Somehow.
The problem is that there are a limited number of hours in the day. And I’m about at capacity. Even with my 11 hour work days. So help me…give me some suggestions for increasing my income in my current business.
I know increasing my pricing is one option and I’m certainly open to that…maybe early next year. But do you have any other ideas for me?
Debt update coming soon. We’ve been staying busy with volleyball season and work. Princess has a part time job lined up to start in October. And History Buff is making some decisions for what he will be doing in January this month.
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
How long have your rates been at their current amount? And be honest: do you think you deserve an increase? What are pay rates doing in general where you live? Is the quality of your work staying the same or improving? I mean, you can charge what you want, but if you’re increasing rates for current customers, I’d be prepared to explain why.
And, because that reads harsher than I intend: you should get paid what you’re worth. But you should be prepared to justify that. Wanting more money because you have debt isn’t enough of a justification.
Are there any tasks that you could use a virtual assistant to handle at a lower cost while you work on tasks that are billed out at higher rate? That would be a way to potentially gain time to work on higher return projects without giving up sleep. I agree that there are always limits to what costs you can trim and what time you have available to make money.
Have you analyzed your tasks to see which are the most profitable? Perhaps increase prices on the least profitable tasks or stop offering them.
I think a $700 car payment would be a great expense to cut.
I was waiting for someone to drop this line. She isn’t getting rid of it, so gotta go to a diff option!
How much of a income surplus do you have with your current 11 hour days? What are you looking to do with more income if you could get it?
I think you should do an update on what your actual budget is doing. Your last projected budget had a surplus of $1000 dollars. Granted it did not include your daughter’s next year of school but even with that you should have over $500 in surplus if you are following the budget you outlined and making the money you projected. That should mean you should not need to make more cuts. You should be progressing slowly and steadily.
Have you thought about hiring a subcontractor so you can take on more work? An intern could help you with this too! Or what about teaching a class locally or in a nearby city about social media or using tech in your business- in our area I see classes offered like that anywhere from $29-$99 a person. You could also put together an ebook or webinar to sell on line.