“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." - The Emperor (Mulan)
In this raw and vulnerable version of the blog, let’s have a chat about my journey from $0 to $75,000 and how I hit the GST threshold.
We will chat about:
What $0 felt like;
How it feels to hit the GST threshold;
Why I'm sharing this.
What $0 felt like
After being in business since mid to end of 2019, I had built up my DREAM clients and was doing OK.
When I received a second breast cancer diagnosis and found out I needed to undergo a double mastectomy, I was under the assumption that I would be back to work after about 2-3 weeks.
How wrong I was!
The initial surgery was great (on my left side where the cancer was) but not on the right side. I think my body was saying “why the bloody hell did you remove me?”
My answer would have been because it was in my family and my auntie had one appear in her right breast too.
After a week or so, I ended up in emergency surgery for a haematoma on the right side and they used a vac machine to close it up (as it was too deep for stitches).
I was in pain and couldn’t really do much for quite a while.
Quite a while turned into almost four months away from my business.
You can’t expect your clients to wait that long
Having all that time off with $0 coming in was demoralising to say the least.
At the end of the day, you have to take time for yourself - to heal, to grieve and to start moving around even a little bit.
When I did come back, it was still only part-time
Being restricted by my arm movements meant that I couldn’t sit at my desk and work for long periods of time.
Around March 2022 I was earning around $1500-$2000 a month.
It was not a good place to be mentally and I remember feeling terrible that I wasn’t bringing money in and that we had to go back to being on a strict budget.
How it feels to hit the GST threshold
What a difference a few months make.
In my case, I hit my first $10,000 month in November 2022. The story behind that one is definitely for another day but remind me and I will write about that too.
I had been using an Excel spreadsheet to track my income and expenses and I wasn’t really keeping it up to date.
The best thing I did was invest in Rounded (an Australian app for your income, expenses, invoices etc).
It means that I am on top of my accounts on a daily basis - my banks are hooked up and I reconcile the income and expenses when they show up.
My invoices were taking so long and now they take me a few minutes!
Getting towards the end of May, I was nearing the magic number of $75,000 in this tax year and I can honestly say I was so excited to be getting to this number, even though it means I will have more tax.
Knowing I’ve gone from $0 to $75,000 in a year means so much to me and to us as a family.
We love to travel
As you might already know, Paul and I love to travel.
Earning this level of income means that our 2024 holidays (Paul turns 50 in 2024) will be extra special - we have a cruise to New Zealand, a Transpacific from Brisbane to Hawaii and a road trip to Utah (with a little cruise and a couple of days in Disneyland - of course!) ending with a couple of days in Vegas (basically so we can shop at the outlets hahaha).
Why I’m sharing this
I’m definitely not sharing this to brag about my achievements although it is bloody fabulous!
The main reason that I wanted to share is because of the journey it took to get there.
We all have to start from $0 when we start a business but we don’t expect things like cancer to hit us.
Unfortunately, there are lots of people who suffer from illnesses or mental health issues and you never know when things are around the corner for you.
If we have a buffer in our business money it can help if someone does come up but that’s not always possible.
The thing that I would do if I could go back in time, is to start creating more digital products in my business - courses, membership, PDFs, ebooks, templates - and I would love to see this for you too.
Talking of digital products, did you know I have a couple of FREE gifts on my website that you can sign up for.
The first is a mini course on creating an animated and clickable email signature - you can sign up here.
The second is a brand new client onboarding Trello board - get your copy here.
What my clients say about working with me
"I love anything that is a little bit fun and different so I jumped on this tutorial straight away to jazz up my email signature. It was so easy to follow along and complete each step along the way and I feel a bit clever now learning this new skill - thanks Jo!" - Cassie Gall from Hey Cassie
Meet your magical Content Creator and Trainer for the 'Not-So-Techy'
I am a Gold Coast based Content Creator and Trainer who specialises in supporting my 'not-so-techy' friends.
I am a creative business owner who brings my inner child to work every day and always has a hint of fun and magic in my day and work.
I love serving business owners on a journey to hit six and seven figures with my 1:1 services as well as courses, workshops and digital products.
I share my knowledge of Canva as well as other tools that I love for CRM, email marketing and other business systems.
You will usually find a Disney quote in my blog posts as I am quite a fan and love to create magic from some amazing quotes.
When I am not working, I enjoy Disney and Marvel movies, love chocolate and listen to audiobooks while walking.
I also host a podcast called Beautiful Conversations with Jo where I chat about my journey with breast cancer as well as other personal stuff. Check it out here.
Interested in learning how to get started with your Canva designs? Check out the Studio and let me help you create your own fun and magic!
Want to work with me 1:1?
If you are a new(er) business owner and you need some help with your graphics and documents, I’ve got you covered.
My design services are all based on YOU and what YOU need. The templates and graphics I create for you can be used over and over again. I even provide a personalised video showing you how to use everything I have made for you.
Maybe you need some social media templates? What about an ebook? Struggling to create a workbook? Do you need email marketing headers and footers?
Whatever it is that you need for YOUR business, let me help. I provide bespoke quotes based on what you need and your budget.
Check out my portfolio page HERE and see what I have created for my other DREAM clients and then send me a message and let’s have a chat.