Table of Contents
Another year, and so much has happened since my 2016 review it’s hard to condense everything into one single post.
I started writing these reviews based upon the State of unions from those I follow online. Paul Jarvis, Justin Jackson & Jason Zook always come with fantastic yearly reviews and are worth a read.
Personal:
Family time:
One of my primary goals when building the business was to work around family time. As a parent, no day is the same and you have to constantly tailor your day around the needs of your child. Matilda has just turned 2 so everyday her body and mind is changing and I wanted to be there to support my wife, Beth, always through these times.
The fact I have no commute and nobody really to answer to allows me to have the family time with Beth and Matilda. This is both what I want, and what they deserve. The little things like having breakfast, lunch & dinner together (when she’s not at nursery) is a privilege which most parents don’t have. I’m hugely lucky to have created a business where I can spend those precious hours with my family.
Travel:
2017 was a good year for travel as we ventured to both the East Coast of Spain & the South of France for two weeks in the summer. It was my wife’s 30th so we wanted to do something special and the South of France trip was certainly that. We spent half the time in Marseillan village, which is a beautiful beach-side village, an hours drive from Montpellier, and then for the second week we ventured to Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon region and visited French markets, gorgeous river swimming spots and the Pont Du Gard. It was an unforgettable trip.
Travel is hugely important to us as we love to immerse ourselves in different cultures and enjoy some time away from electronic devices.
Health:
2017 has been a mixed year for health for a number of reasons. On a whole I have stayed relatively consistent with the gym however performance and body composition is nowhere near what it was before the birth of my daughter and the growth of the business. Empty excuse perhaps but I’m learning to find a balance between what I can achieve fitness wise without compromising other more important areas of my life (family, business). Training/fitness tends to be the one which suffers if we have a bad night sleep due to Matilda teething or a cold which I believe is totally right as the other areas of my life are just more important right now.
I also had a little health scare in 2017 when a large lump appeared on my ankle. After numerous tests, a biopsy and further analysis, the lump was diagnosed as a non-malignant nerve tumour called a schwannoma. This was still pretty serious given long term nerve damage could occur. Thankfully, the surgeon was unbelievable and he was able to remove the tumour without much damage (small spot on my heel). This certainly set me back from a fitness perspective and I have a sizeable scar on my inner ankle area but the pain relief from removal is welcoming to say the least. Shout out to Dr Wiper and the NHS.
Financial:
Extension:
When we moved to our house a couple of years ago we always had plans to extend and improve. The kitchen is quite small, the downstairs toilet in the wrong place & the current extension has flat roofs which need to be pitched. We have saved hard this year and have recently had planning approved for an extension.
The plan initially was to improve the downstairs area with a family room, kitchen diner and utility room. Things have stepped up a little. My gym is currently within a 1980’s prefab garage which leaks a little bit and my office is in one of our spare bedrooms. We decided to increase the extension plans and have a gym room built where the current garage is with a staircase to an office area as well as the original plans.
I’ve been working for myself for over two years now and we feel the extra investment will make a huge difference to our home life, and of course to my business. A dedicated office adjoined, but away from the main house will give me the space I need to run my business. Having given coworking a whirl this is a natural progression for even more work/life integration.
The work on the extension is due to start in a couple of weeks and I’m hugely excited. We love where we live, and to buy a house with the space we will get (not to our spec) in the same area, we’d add an additional 150k to the mortgage. This is costing a fraction of that and allows us to tailor the home to meet our needs.
Investing:
I’ve started to look at ways to make my money work a little hard; particularly the money I save for taxes every year. This typically sits in my bank account gathering dust and no interest. I’ve started to put this into MoneyFarms general investment portfolios. So far it’s been performing ok and feels like a relatively risk free way of making the tax saving money work better.
Buying outright:
Throughout 2017 we have continued to make strides to buy everything out right. Following on from purchasing the car outright last year we plan to purchase our main car outright this year when the lease on our current car ends. We have also made some more minor payments outright this year including phone line rental, mobile phones & car insurance which enables us to be more cash rich on a monthly basis. It’s very easy to burden yourself with multiple monthly payments however it makes you incredibly inflexible if you want to make changes in your life.
Business:
Business supports family:
Last year I wrote how the business was representing around 55% of our household income. This year the business has finally 100% supported the family for day to day living. Essentially as a household we now live off the business income and anything else is a bonus (wife’s employment, freelancing). I’m incredibly proud of this achievement and we have been able to do this while investing heavily in new content and retaining profit within the business.
Selling off assets:
Within 2016 we made the move to a subscription model for the main educational websites we run. Within 2017 we decided to go ‘all in’ and sold off some of our remaining Adsense sites. These were high traffic, well earning websites. With the money earned we were able to invest into new avenues, hire a remote team to create new content regularly, and grow our subscription service. Thankfully this has paid off and revenue is at an all time high, even without these assets.
2000 Active Paying Subscribers:
I’ve always been a huge fan of Kevin Kelly 1000 true fans methodology when creating a business. With 1000 paying ‘fans’ you have a business. In December we proudly hit 2000 active recurring subscribers across our two primary websites. This is a huge achievement as we continue to grow our subscriber base monthly due to our strong rankings and new material but we are beginning to attract fans of our brand and time-saving resource offering for teachers across the globe.
Reduced Customer Support:
We worked hard this year to reduce customer support requests. Improving our infrastructure, building a robust FAQ and making a better product has resulted in a significantly reduced customer support request count.
We now have a product we are proud of and offer a clear service. We are open and transparent about this. Of course, this may turn away potential customers but we are OK with that.
Refining Clients:
As the educational business has grown I have taken stock on my freelance clients and refined the type of clients I want to work with. I no longer support agencies, nor do I work with clients where I’m required in-house for long periods of time. This has meant stepping away from one of my first clients which was sad but the right decision for where I want to be long term.
I still value and enjoy my client work however I want to work with clients where I can make a difference and within an environment where I achieve my best work.
2018 Ahead:
4000 Active Subscribers:
This is a stretch target, however I have my sights firmly set on 4000 active recurring subscribers. This would put us in an exciting position given the lean nature of our business.
Launch new projects:
We are always on the hunt for new websites to acquire, domains to work on, and projects to get off the ground. As well as making our current products better, we plan to launch into different educational niches, one of which is a real growth area here in the UK.
Refine clients further:
I genuinely enjoy working with all my current clients however it’s healthy to continue to refine and improve my offering. I will always have a passion for client work however I want to find that sweet spot in terms of the type of client I attract. Through 2018 I plan to work on my offering and work exclusively with clients where our goals are aligned.
Gym Routine:
Deja vu from my 2016 review. I’ve still managed to stay in relatively good shape but this year I plan to regularly go in the gym 3-4 times a week as opposed to 2-3. It’s certainly one of those things which hangs over me so I am aiming to be more consistent.
Holidays:
As a business owner I actively encourage regular holidays. As a family this is something we love. Complete disconnection from day to day technology and quality, unspoilt time together. We plan to continue this theme in 2018 and venture on a number of vacation breaks. They don’t have to be expensive. Just time away from your home environment, the sun on your back can breath whole new life into you and your business.
Investing:
Other than investing in myself and your usual pension contribution; I’ve never really ventured down the investment route. At the end of 2017 I looked into this a little more and will be making regular ‘safe’ investments.
We are relatively frugal with our monthly spending so investing a little bit can make a huge difference long term even with modest returns. Pop a monthly investment number which works for you into this calculator and see the potential returns in years to come.
2017 was another fantastic year for me both professionally and personally. What did you achieve in 2017 and what are your plans for 2018?