1. We do ~$85k/month in revenue. We are a small software development company and license proprietary software to prime contractors for the Federal government, so our contracts are mostly long term (3-5 years). I have 5 FTE’s including my wife. My wife and I pay ourselves $100k/yr each, make sure we have our employees’ undivided attention through bonuses, and we keep the rest of the money in the company for reinvestment. Started in 2015 with $8k/month in revenue and have grown it since.
2. One man Architectural firm. $30-40k a month. Overhead $500/month. No employees. When I see these heavy overhead businesses, it feels so risky and stressful to me. I work out of my home office in my PJ’s. Pretty much everything I make either goes straight into my pocket or to the tax man.
3. I own an HVAC company. No employees yet, and fairly new at this still. (Started 4 months ago)
Revenue last month was $120k. Like the guy above me said, it’s not for everyone and takes a lot of discipline and thick skin because the stress can be overwhelming.
I did dual-enrollment full-time when I was 16 and graduated with an associates degree at 18 then worked for several large commercial companies for the past 10 years. I enjoy what I do so I was always trying to learn and grow. I always had the plan to start my own business one day and when I finally took the 140 question, 8 hour test then passed I startled prepping to go out on my own. (Researching taxes, business type formation, purchasing a van, designing a logo, etc)
I have been very lucky so far and I hope it’ll continue. Hard work does pay off.
4. $40k a month, land development consultant for about 16 years. About 80% profit.
5. IT consulting. Always above 100K, sometimes over 1M. Trying hard to always be above that. I haven’t the code on always over 1M but we are working on it.
I worked in enterprise IT consulting for the government for ten years after my Army retirement. I was a program manager making well over $100K. One day, I had a long discussion with one of the guys who Dell had sent to work on my storage arrays. He made more than me. He didn’t have 80 people reporting to him, only himself. Took his daughter to school almost every day. He worked from his home office. I had a 40-mile commute. I left the defense contractor I was working for and never looked back. It was scary as hell. I’d had an employer for 35 years. Now, I didn’t. That was 2011.
Employers pay you just enough to get you to trade your most valuable resource, time, for money. So many people are underpaid because they don’t know their worth.
I’d say get out of that job. But don’t just switch your employer to yourself. Have a plan. Have some money. Go do what you know how to do and fix problems! I was almost broke until I stopped chasing money and went to work fixing problems. Then the money came. It was weird.
Start doing it on the side. You can consult for just a few hours a week to begin. That way you aren’t in a sink-or-swim survival mode.
6. 350k a month – painting and flooring Marketing 10% Labor 50% Admin and Project manager 10% Materials 10%
Profit 20%
2 partners – 10% each partner
7. Solo law practice. I gross usually $30,000-$40,000 per month, but I work very humane hours. Could easily earn much more but a trip to the ER a few years ago made me realize that enough money is enough money.
8. Yes, Martial Arts Academy, $35k-$100k per month. Holiday sale and Xmas in July give us huge spikes. 20 years in business.
Started teaching in 1983. Started current school in 2002. We did online during COVID but only do live classes now. Rent 2500 square feet on busy road for $5k per month. 2 full time employees, 2 part timers. Students are aged between 3 and 78. About half are teens and adults. In this industry we measure student value. We divide gross by number of active student count. We would like to see over $200 student value, but usually see around $120-$165.
9. We did $140k revenue last month, sales were around $300,000. Goal is $160k revenue for October.
I own a concrete coatings business. I have 3 crews, 10 employees and am in 2 states. I’ve been in business coming up on two years.
I was selling for a company in this space and decided to branch out on my own for multiple reasons. I knew I could sell this product, which made taking the leap easier.
Current profit margins are around 40%.
10. Data Analytics consultant here for 2 years. Income ranges from 20k – 30k per month and profit is around 80%.
I’ve worked in the analytics field for over 5 years and my income comes from contracting, Upwork, Fiverr and a little cash from YouTube.
I frequently work 12 hour days and sometimes finish as late as 3am to make sure that I deliver value for my clients. I make sure that I take the weekends off though so that I don’t burn out and get to spend time with my family.
90% of the revenue driving projects are delivered by me. But, I have 1 other guy who helps out with the Upwork and Fiverr projects who is a godsend!
11. Almost $500k a month now. Indie board game publisher. I joined onto the venture about a year ago during ideation. 40% profit margin but I’ve kept almost all of the cash in the business to scale.
12. We do around $300k a month. I pay myself $20k, at the end of the year the business has about 10-15% profit. We sell storage sheds and outdoor furniture.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.