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!
