I Quit My Job & Started a Business: Here's How Much I Made in 1 Year

One Year of Solo Entrepreneurship: A Financial Retrospective

After quitting my job a year ago to start my own business, I want to share how much I've earned. Here's a breakdown of my income over the past year, offering insights, lessons, and a look at my journey. I hope this provides inspiration and guidance for others considering a similar path.

Primary Income: My E-commerce Brand

My main focus is my original golf-inspired luxury brand, selling products in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

• Sales Performance: From April 9th of last year to April 9th of this year, my gross sales on Shopify totaled $45,000 USD. My website launched in late September, coinciding with my birthday, and I started SEO and social media marketing efforts. I began advertising on Google Ads on October 21st.

• First Order & Growth: After seven months, I received my first order on November 17th. This means that nearly all of my sales occurred between mid-November and early April—less than five months.

• International Expansion: After selling out my first batch of inventory in the U.S. and receiving orders from the UK, Australia, and Canada, I began regular operations in all four countries, including stocking inventory, advertising, and sales.

• Profit Margins: My current net profit margin averages around 35%, though it fluctuates. During the holiday season, when I relied on air shipping to the UK, Australia, and Canada (due to lack of local inventory), my profit margin dropped to approximately 10%.

• Advertising Efficiency: I recently doubled my Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), from 6x to 12x. This improvement stemmed from a small but critical operational change.

• Net Income: With a net profit margin of roughly 35%, my primary business generated approximately $15,800 USD after taxes in my first year.

• Initial Investment: My upfront investment, including initial inventory costs, was between $10,000 and $15,000 USD. I've effectively broken even within one year.

• Income Recovery: I mentioned that my cross-border e-commerce project income has now recovered to about 40% of my income when I was working in the video in March.

• Full Time Income: I used a tax calculator, which roughly equates to about $6,100 USD after taxes or $6,900 USD with benefits. Therefore, in February and March, my cross-border e-commerce income was $3,800 USD, which is 55% higher than $6,900 USD.

Second Income Stream: My Mother's Xiaohongshu Account

I manage my mother's Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media and e-commerce platform) account. The income generated from this account has been crucial to my financial stability during this transition.

• Past Revenue Sharing: While working, I split the Xiaohongshu income with my mother or gave it all to her. However, over the past year, she has given me most of it to support my entrepreneurial endeavors.

• Goals for Parents: I plan to give all the Xiaohongshu income back to my mom for her retirement and maybe even buy my parents a car by the end of the year.

• Expenses: Expenses mainly consist of commissions paid to Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs), which connect brands with influencers. Commission rates have risen significantly, averaging around 25% compared to 15% in previous years.

• Team Support: I hired a team to handle scriptwriting, filming, editing, and posting for my mom’s Xiaohongshu account, which frees up my time to focus on my e-commerce business. Each short video costs around $110 USD to produce.

• Net Earnings: The net income from Xiaohongshu last year was more than from my first year of cross-border e-commerce.

• Future Strategy: It is simpler and more efficient to have fixed short videos and advertisements every month. I will make a lot of content so I won't need to rely on short term interests.

• Importance of Side Hustles: Starting with a side project helps foster the skills and perseverance necessary for entrepreneurship.

Third Income Stream: Unemployment Benefits

Unexpectedly, I received unemployment benefits. I was eligible to receive $310 USD (2,255 RMB) per month in unemployment benefits in Shanghai and collected this for seven months.

Fourth Income Stream: Investment Gains

My investment portfolio has also contributed to my overall financial picture, though it requires strategic implementation and is subject to individual risk tolerance.

• Realized Gains: Over the past year, I realized gains of $3,400 USD. This mostly came from selling assets that weren't suitable for us.

• Unrealized Gains: As of filming, my investment portfolio's unrealized gains, or floating profits, reached 31%.

• Conservative Portfolio: I am keeping a conservative portfolio where every time the price dips I don't feel a need to sell the stock.

• Early Investment: It is important to focus on primary income, but invest early.

• Turbo Charger: This is like an increasingly powerful turbocharger that uses compound interest to turn the money you save from your primary income into more valuable assets and increase the value of your assets. This will drive you to become more and more wealthy.

Income Comparison: Entrepreneurship vs. Employment

To provide context, let's compare my income as an entrepreneur versus my previous employment.

• Previous Salary: My last job's base salary was roughly $6,900 USD (50,000 RMB) per month.

• Lost Income from Quitting: Based on that I was making $89,700 USD from salary with an extra month's salary guarantee.

• Entrepreneurial Income Percentage: My cross-border e-commerce income was $15,800 USD, so my entrepreneurial income was about 18% of my salary.

• Conclusion: Since there is a huge drop in income, you will need to be prepared financially and mentally.

Conclusion: Initial Success and Future Prospects

My total income for the year (after taxes) may not be substantial, but starting from scratch, I consider it an initial success. More importantly, the future looks promising. I am in a positive cycle and look forward to a brighter future.