[USER]

Just asking for some advice / guidance.
In order to try to FI or FIRE i thought i would try to increase my income.

I had started a small business in 2021 growing rare plants. Life happened and it did not take off.

I decided to be more committed though and make myself some goals.

– sell 10k in 2024 / approx 1k per month goal

– sell 20 to 30k in 2025 / approx 2 to 3 k per month goal.

– begin turning a profit in 2025.
My year end is in March.

I have reached 10k since March 2023 in sales already. I had to make some better decisions with inventory and eliminating low profit margin plants.

(The market changes constantly so I have to stay on top of it). And changes to increase efficiency while reducing time.

I do believe that I will be able to reach 40 to 60k in sales in 2025.

Now that may not be a lot to some but it’s definitely an exciting thing for me.

I guess I’m looking for any advice. What should I do with profits on I start making profits?

I was thinking to reach a certain # and invest it?. Currently I would say I’m ‘breaking even ‘ but slightly trending upwards.

Meaning – one month I stopped having to borrow money from myself to cover expense.

Then slowly there was a positive balance in the account. Then that # is slowly increasing on average.

I’m open to any advice. I’d like to be able to set goals for this as setting goals helps me.

But im also very green (haha) when it comes to business practices too.

Like do people just leave the money untouched for traceability or business purposes.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask. I dont know where to ask.

I am running this business (llc) while I have a full time job. I’m also trying to increase income from my job.

I make a bit over 100k and in 5 years with potential raises I hope to be closer to 200k.

[Niharika]

You mentioned expenses but not taxes, assuming you’ve accounted for those in expenses, then I’ll echo the commenter above regarding, long term do you see this business as your path to coast fire?

Or you’re thinking to maximize profit and get out by the time you retire?

Sounds like you’re early enough in the journey that you may not know the answer but thinking in terms of getting paid for the time is a good start.

Because you sound like you’re spending a bunch of time on this and presumably then missing out on some life experiences/slower growth in your f/t job potentially.

So having a goal around having the same effective pay scale as your f/t Job would be a good next goal.

[Christyna]

I would have 3 business accounts- spending, retained earnings (savings), and investments.

The retained earnings is for taxes and larger capital expenses.

[Matthew]

Usually when a business starts out, all the profits should go back into the business whenever possible whether investing in it or building up an emergency fund so it can survive an economic downturn.

Only once you get it to a good enough size can you depend on it.

[Joe]

Once you start making profits, your biggest expense will be taxes. Please read or listen to Tax Free Wealth on youtube.

Also, business losses can offset your w2 income, so you can use that to your advantage.

[Valerie]

If there is some left over each month, I would start by taking that overage and putting it into a Money Market Account (MMA).

Huntington Bank offers 5.38% and Wells Fargo WMPXX pays 4.91% and you can put $ in and take it out as often as you need to with no fees.

[Heather]

Are you paying yourself yet? Start by making sure it’s sustainable and able to pay you a livable wage.

If you’re not there yet, it needs to be factored into the game plan as soon as possible.

Then start paying yourself a wage and ensure you’re paid back for your equity contributions.

How is your business structured (llc/sole prop)? That would help guide next steps.

[Author]

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