Every cent I made (and spent) in 2024

Welcome to the Thought Follower, the savvy Solopreneur's guide to building a business on LinkedIn.

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Why am I writing about this?

It can feel like every second post on LinkedIn is some brofluencer telling you how they made X amount with Y secret hack.

Over time, exposure to this kind of content led me to believe that my income was somehow part of my identity.

I’m going deep on this topic to prove to myself that it’s not at all. It’s just a series of numbers. Nothing more, nothing less.

TL;DR

• I earned $158,086.12 in 2024.

• I spent $41,788.59 to run my business, leaving a Gross Profit Margin of 73.57%.

• 40% of my expenses were investments in self-development—coaching, courses, and workshops. I call this Human Profit. I know this investment will have exponential compounding benefits over time.

• 50% of my revenue came from ghostwriting for corporate execs. 40% came from ghostwriting and coaching for Solopreneurs, and $15k from marketing consultancy.

Lessons learnt

Here’s why I know I made the right call leaving my day job:

1. Location Independence: Moving to France has been one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

2. Productive Stress: 2024 wasn’t stress-free, but the stress was intentional and within my control. I averaged 30 hours of work per week, and it was far better for my mental health.

3. Building an Asset: There’s a real chance I’ll double my revenue in 2025—a leap that wouldn’t be realistic in corporate life.

4. Human Profits: Investing in myself will pay dividends for years. I genuinely enjoy learning new things and building my skills.

The Details

In 2023, I built my LinkedIn ghostwriting side hustle alongside a day job as Marketing Manager.

By January 1, 2024, I had 2 ghostwriting clients on retainer, generating 70% of my salary.

In January 2025, I still write for both. Retaining clients has been the bedrock of my business.

My Income last year

This chart tells the story. There were some peaks and troughs from month to month, but my quarterly income was stable around $40k.

Client breakdown

Here’s where my revenue came from last year:

Expenses

Here’s every dollar I spent in my business last year.

Notes

Fees includes Stripe fees, bank fees and other charges from financial institutions, either to pay bills or receive money from clients. I don’t like how high this number is.

Miscellaneous includes things like Insurance, carbon offsets, client gifts, donations, random travel costs & accounting fees

Contractors includes video editing & Virtual Assistant services

Marketing covers a batch of done-for-me video content

Superannuation - I put money into my Superannuation as it’s tax free in Australia. My goal was to put 10% of income into Super but I ended up transferring some of this into an investment into myself (see human profits below).

A Solopreneur’s Subscriptions

Here are my top 5 most expensive subscriptions:

1. Shield Analytics for LinkedIn - $1,300 (for client analytics)

2. Linkedin Premium - $720

3. Google Suite - $600

4. Fireflies -$500

5. Notion - $400

I consciously invested a lot in myself in Q4. In total I spent $15,513.21 on courses, coaching & self-development. This Human Profit is an asset to my business, not an expense. This post outlines where I invested my human profits last year.

Profit

These are the numbers that matter…

I made gross profit (before tax) of $116,297.53 in 2024. My gross profit margin for the year was 73.57%.

Lessons Learnt

The annual salary for my marketing day job was $126,000 (with an extra 10% superannuation on top).

While I didn’t make more $$, there are 4 key reasons I know I made the right choice to go all in on my side hustle.

Location independence. Going out on my own allowed us to relocate to France - one of the best things we’ve ever done.

More productive stress. I wasn’t less stressed in 2024, but the stress I faced was productive. I pushed myself and my own boundaries with intention, rather than scrambling to react to problems outside of my control. It was way better for my mental health. I worked an estimated 30 hours a week last year.

Building an asset. There’s a real chance I could double my revenue in 2025. A leap like this wouldn’t be possible climbing the corporate ladder.

Human Profits. Investing in myself will pay dividends for years. I love learning new things & building skills.

Got a question? I’m happy to answer - hit reply and ask me anything you like!

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