318 - Year in Review
On today's episode of the podcast I'm breaking down what my business looked like in 2023 and what that means for 2024.
Over the last few weeks I've been chatting on the podcast about my business as we round down the year including KPIs, my November profit report and annual planning for 2024. I've also released a 2023 highlight overview blog at notavglaw.com/2023-yearinreview.
My first full time year in business was 2018 and I did about $30,000 in revenue. 2019, about $70,000, 2020 we doubled the revenue and did $140k, 2021 took a step back and did about $90k, 2022 was a leap forward and we did $170k, and in 2023 we are YTD $268k (I recorded this with 11 days left to the year during which some recurring payments will come in) so I expect to hit about $270-$275k.
To recap what led up to 2023, let's take a look at 2022. We launched the Contract Club (formerly the Contract Vault) which took off faster than I imagined with the help of organic word-of-mouth-buzz and more than 1,000 people joined in the first year. We also launched Profit Rx the end of 2021 and turned it into a 6-figure membership in 2022 by taking Unf*ck Your Biz from a coaching program into a monthly membership. We found that people weren't getting the results that they could get if it was a coaching model with accountability which is why we brought that back in May 2023 and then made it a done-for-you service in winter 2023. Profit Rx didn't go away though, it's now a monthly membership accountability program to help you get your bookkeeping and your cash flow ran. We'll be opening the doors to that in February again with a lot of fun updates with a new level of value we've never had before. The energy I'm trying to bring into 2024 is a lot fewer offers, each with their own very clear deliverable.
In 2022 I also brought on my first employees instead of just a team of contractors and this allowed me to help more people because I had a larger capacity with a wider range of skillsets. It wasn't that I was always too busy, it was that I used to feel like I needed to have all the answers for every single client. But my friend Kira at Paradigm pointed out that's not how all businesses work. Look at other law firms, they have a variety of lawyers specializing in a variety of types of law.
To recap 2023, we moved our membership back to our program Unf*ck Your Biz, we also brought in 700 new club goers to the Contract Club and added some order bumps which I recommend to other business owners. January was our lowest revenue month which was unsurprising to me, in February, we jumped when I launched the law firm which continued to grow until we dipped in July and then again at the end of Q4 we jumped which is typical because it's when we launch and when people want to get their shit together ahead of the new year.
This year we made close to $23k from our eight low-ticket offers (under $50). Out of that, $17,000 was from the Contract Club. In 2024 we're going to scrap most of these low-ticket offers, add a few $10 offers to answer some big questions we have, for example an S Corp savings calculator because people always have questions about that. If people determine they won't save money starting an S Corp, we save them money from hiring someone they don't need yet. I've also decided no freebies this year, with the exception of talks and presentations, but we will be having a quiz on our website.
The Contract Club averaged $1,400 a month in sales, Profit Rx averaged $6,000/month. We averaged ~$4k in tax services, $4k in legal services. Expense-wise, our average team expenses was $3,300 per month. When I tell people I have employees I think they think I have multiple full time employees which is not the case. I have five employees on payroll working about five hours a week give or take given launches or projects being worked on. Our monthly tools averaged $430/month and $950 in marketing/month. $300/month average in memberships and online courses that I took. $400/month in client fees which is essentially cost of goods even if we don't call it that, it's the fees we pay for things like trademark filings. $380/month to affiliates. Throughout the year I kept telling myself I needed to spend less, but as I look at these averages, none of them seem wild to me. I could cut things here and there but for the most part, it's pretty A-ok.
Coming this month we're launching Legally Launched, a mini group coaching program starting January 22nd to help you file your LLC at a price point comparable to services like LegalZoom. Stay tuned.
If you would like to talk about money in your own business and share your own Profit Report, I'd love to have you on the podcast. Send me a DM @notavglaw
