Pros and cons from my first year of my big revenue year

2022 was my first 100K+ revenue year running a freelance business. I hit a milestone that I had been working towards for the previous four years.

I was happy when I hit the mark. It proved to me that I could make it happen.

Looking back at that one year, there were pros and cons to that first $100K revenue path. I want to share these with you today.

They are very subjective, from my personal point of view. I am not discouraging you to go on this path nor am I putting this milestone on a pedestal. I simply want to share both sides of the experience.

First lets, begin with the cons so we can end this article with the pros and on a high note!

Cons:

1. Despite having my evenings and weekends blocked, I worked a lot of hours on client acquisition, client communication and product delivery and not much on the business.

2. I didn’t make the time to do other things in my business like long-term strategy, content creation or relationship building with colleagues and partners.

3. I didn’t make time for exercise or movement and gained some extra pounds as a result and felt tired and exhausted all the time.

4. I didn’t make time for skytime: my favorite free-time activity - staring at the open sky, watching clouds float by and dreaming.

5. I didn’t take a vacation or even a weekend getaway.

6. I didn’t go on a meditation retreat which is an annual goal of mine.

7. Not much time for friends and family - just work, work, work.

8. When the revenue crossed $100K, I was elated for a few days. Then it was back to getting the next project underway, back to the next thing in the business. The moment was great but it was not everlasting and didn’t solve everything for me! (Surprise, surprise!)

9. Getting demotivated, exhausted and on the edge of dropping it all.

Result: US$106,375 and accomplishing a long-held dream, slowly killing the Golden Goose

Pros:

1. I streamlined my offers to two main design packages which allowed me to get better at the workflow each time I completed a project and delivered dozens of websites.

2. I got really good in communicating with my clients giving them a red carpet experience

3. I was highly focused and didn’t let doubt or other negative mind states take up too much bandwidth in my mind.

4. I grew in self-confidence because I had achieved for me an important milestone on my freelance journey.

5. I had was able to fully fund my retirement accounts.

6. I was able to donate thousands of dollars to my chosen charities and non-profits which was a big deal for me.

7. I was able to save 10% of my income which came in handy next year. When Dad was admitted to a hospital an hour and a half away from their home and I was able to cover hotel, Uber and food costs for 13 days (which in the NY/NJ area is easily thousands of dollars) for Mom and myself without batting an eye.

8. It became clear to me that this way of working is not sustainable in the long-term. This clarity helped me to make personal changes in 2023 - I took more breaks, went on an in-person meditation retreat and an online meditation retreat and one short trip within the US.

9. The experience of 2022 also made me think strategically about what I truly want, who I want to serve and how I want to serve in the future. It helped me recognize that achieving any kind revenue goal is not really what makes my heart happy. It needs to be a healthy, wholesome approach to what I define as success.

Result: US$106,375, accomplishing a long-held dream, having many insights and realizations about my journey and making a ton of changes for the next phase.

So as you make your plans and goals, remember that there will be pros and cons. Be aware of the cost as well as the benefits. Take care of yourself, don’t get burned out, and constantly assess so you make smart moves toward your revenue and business goals. Don’t kill the Golden Goose which is YOU!

I truly hope this is helpful; please let me know your thoughts by responding to this LinkedIn post.