My figures for 2024

With this article, the fourth, I close the series devoted to summarising what 2024 was like in my business.

These are the previous ones, in case you want more context:

• Blog summary.
• Summary of my e-commerce business, Yo pongo el hielo.
• The marketing behind my personal business in 2024.

In this one I’m going to tell you my figures. And the feelings that come with them, which matter more.

Above all because, after the feelings, come the analyses..

And, after the analyses, the decisions. Which, in this case, will be very, very significant, as I’ll tell you.

But for now, let’s focus on the starting point: the figures.

Income

After profit, it is the most relevant metric in (almost) any business. Mine is no exception, so it seems logical to start here.

So, if we talk exclusively about earned income and leave investments out, the figure comes to €82k.

This includes both the salary from my company and client billing.

I don’t know whether that sounds good, bad or average to you. But I do know what it sounds like to me:

F*cking awful.

And I think that for one reason: to reach it, I’ve had to work an average of 60 hours a week..

I’m talking about the annual average, counting every single week of the year, because in reality I exceeded 65 in most of them.

There were also some “holiday” weeks when I eased off a little. But I never stopped. At least not in 2024.

There is a reason for that, of course. It’s not because I enjoy this Korean-style regime or think it is the best way to do things.

Not at all.

I’ve always been a firm believer in work smarter, not harder, but in my case this year’s circumstances had to be this way. And that is how they were.

Although I’m absolutely certain 2025 will not continue in the same way. Mainly because, even if I wanted it to —which I don’t— circumstances beyond my control will prevent it.

Right, once it is clear that something has to change, the next step is finding out what. And there is no better way than breaking down every business line to see what lies underneath.

Earnings per hour

To begin with, the first thing is to separate the income from each stream..

This is the result each one generated for me, shown as a percentage because that makes what I’m about to explain easier to see:

• Salary from my company: 41.8%.
• Consulting: 40.3%.
• Training (in person and online): 17.9%.

This split is neither good nor bad per se. It is what it is.

The point is that it needs to be put into context based on the hours I devoted to each task , which were approximately as follows:

• Company: 42%.
• Consulting: 19%.
• Training (in person and online): 29%.
• Promotion and administrative tasks: 10%.

As you can see, alongside the three income streams there is a fourth time commitment: promoting my business and handling its administration.

This matters because those tasks are fully covered within the company, so these hours should be allocated exclusively to consulting and training, which I have split 50% to each.

On the other hand, I do 99.9% of the training and consulting work from home, so there is no commuting..

However, for company work I go to the office from Monday to Thursday, spending one hour a day travelling. That time is already included in the 42% allocation.

With those two points in mind, the actual percentage breakdown of hours devoted in 2024 is as follows:

• Company: 42%.
• Consulting: 24%.
• Training (in person and online): 34%.

Once we have these figures in hand, we can start analysing the situation. And certain things begin to stand out, such as the fact that consulting is the most profitable line, generating more than 40% of income with only 24% of the time.

In the middle we have the company, whose time share (42%) is identical to its contribution to income (42%).

At the other end of the scale we have training: it required 34% of my time to generate less than 18% of my income.

With those figures alone, the diagnosis would be clear: if you want to work fewer hours, cut training, the least profitable line, and be done with it.

Right?

Not so fast. Things are not quite that simple, for several reasons.

The first is that, of the three, training is the only stream with a scalable component: online training.

Of all my work, it is the only one that is not a straight exchange of time for money.. 

In this case, creating the training is the most time-consuming task. Then there is whatever marketing you do.

In return, there is no (theoretical) limit to the possible income from sales.

And of course, this year I spent a lot of time creating courses I will be able to sell again in 2025, whether by investing time or money in marketing. So, I will definitely recoup part of the time invested..

Along the same lines, in 2024 I developed a great deal of material for my digital business mentoring. Material that is completely reusable this year for new mentoring programmes, so once again we are looking at another investment to be recouped later.

Finally, this line is also penalised by my joining the management team at Círculo Copy, because building the website consumed a great deal of time. That time cannot possibly be recouped in the three months it was operating in 2024. Again, an investment whose returns should arrive in 2025.

For these reasons, I don’t think abandoning the training line is the right path in my case. And in fact I won’t, because it is also something I really enjoy.

When I repeat this analysis at the end of 2025, I’ll see whether it was the right call or a mistake. After all, two points define a line —or a trajectory, if you prefer.

Expenses

Not much to say in this section, honestly. My business is very lean , and with a good PC and a 4K monitor, which I’ve had for some time, I’m sorted. 

Yes, that is a simplification, of course. In reality, we should add a few other things:

• ChatGPT premium plan: €240.
• Training: €840.
• Travel and accommodation paid by me: €440.
• Other expenses and tools: €310.

Total: €1,830. That works out at roughly €150 a month, on average.

Not bad (except when you have to cough up money to the tax office and your adviser tells you that, if you don’t want to pay so much, you should spend more).

Investments

Now for the final piece of the puzzle.

And although you may think it makes no sense to include this section here, to me it does. Very much so.

You see, one of the main reasons I prefer being self-employed to any other (realistic) alternative is freedom..

And investments bring me closer to it.

I consider them part of my business because the aim is to diversify sources of income: exactly what I do with earned income, but on a larger scale.

So when I analyse my financial position at year-end, I cannot imagine leaving this out, as it is an important part of the overall picture.

Getting into the details, as far as this area is concerned, I follow the same principles with my investment portfolio as with everything else: maximum diversification to reduce risk..

I’m no longer 20 with my whole life ahead of me to recover from a major screw-up.

That is why I hold:

• Index funds.
• Actively managed funds.
• Shares.
• Gold.
• Bitcoin.
• Property.

I split these assets into two groups: financial and property. Here is how each performed.

Returns on the financial asset portfolio

A warning: viewed from the outside, the figures may look surprising. Or unreal.

In fact, they surprised me when I calculated them.

But no, they are genuine. The result of a plan and some luck.

Let’s get into the numbers.

If we talk about financial assets and exclude rent from the flat, between the returns on those assets and the monthly contributions I make, my portfolio increased in value by an astonishing 80% in 2024.

And it is already getting close to where I want it to be.

To reach that figure, two things must be taken into account:

I made substantial monthly contributions throughout the year. That was part of the plan.

The lucky part is that both Bitcoin and the Nvidia shares I own posted extraordinary gains. The former rose 112% and the latter 180%, and because of their weight in my portfolio they pulled the overall return upwards.

If we removed both assets from the equation, my portfolio would have grown “only” 57%, which is not normal either, but reflects an excellent year on the stock market and those contributions.

Contributions I made following my method, one I feel quite comfortable with and will discuss another day.

I can tell you now that, although I have been investing for more than four years, the turning point came three years ago, when I embraced and began applying this principle:

1. Generate more income (through work).
2. Invest all the extra income you generate.
3. Diversify it, unless you love the adrenaline rush of risk.

As I said, with those three axioms in mind, I’m already building something serious here.

Returns on the property assets

In reality, I own only my home and a flat that I rent out.

And if the section above was the good news, this is the bad.

The return on my rental flat this year was a paltry 2.5%. And only because the mortgage is practically paid off; otherwise, not even that.

Very sad.

Yes, we could also talk about some appreciation, but considering the renovation I’ll have to do when the tenant leaves, I don’t even count it.

For this reason and others, such as increasing administrative regulation, I think this is by far my worst investment.

But of course, it was my first, 20 years ago, and back then it was not an investment but the home where my mother was going to live.

What I do know is that I’m going to sell it as soon as I can.

It goes somewhat against my diversification mindset, but if I have learned anything over this time, it is that property is not for me. And that is despite knowing people around me who do well from it.

That is not my case.

All the good luck I had with financial assets turned into bad luck with the flat, so au revoir..

Future plans

After reviewing the figures as a whole, I’m fairly clear about the path ahead.

There will be an evolution on the work side. Or rather, a revolution.

Next week I’ll tell you more, but let’s say that, in the very short term, the three-stream income mix I’ve had for years is about to be shaken up significantly..

Which I think you’ll understand when I explain it, given today’s figures.

I don’t expect any major changes in the other areas:

• Expenses may rise slightly, but not by much.
• Regarding investments, barring the surprise sale of the rental flat —which I don’t think will happen in 2025— I’ll stick to the same plan. I don’t expect to add assets or change the amount of my monthly contributions. I’m happy as I am.

So I’ll see you next week, when I’ll explain in full detail the reasons behind the very, very big change coming to my business.

So, if you want to know, see you in seven days. And if you don’t want to miss it, subscribe here and it will arrive in your inbox as soon as I publish it.