The Side Hustle Playbook
A product can sell quickly and still pay you poorly. Revenue tells you what customers spend; a cost calculation helps show what the work leaves behind.
Before promoting your best seller again, count the expenses that disappear into every order. Include packaging, payment costs, wasted materials, and your time.
Follow the Money Through One Order
Consider this illustrative example for a dozen decorated cookies sold for $36:
| Cost | Sample amount |
| Ingredients | $7.00 |
| Packaging | $2.00 |
| Payment-processing cost | $1.50 |
| Allowance for waste and remakes | $1.50 |
| Labor: 45 minutes at $16 per hour | $12.00 |
| Allocated overhead | $3.00 |
| Total modeled cost | $27.00 |
| Amount remaining | $9.00 |
These are sample numbers, not local price estimates. Replace them with your receipts, actual processing charges, production time, and chosen compensation target.
The $9 remaining is before income taxes and any expenses omitted from the calculation. The labor allowance compensates your work; it should not quietly disappear from your pricing decision.
Watch What Happens When Time Increases
If the same order takes 75 minutes, labor at $16 per hour becomes $20. Total modeled cost rises to $35, leaving $1.
The customer bought the same dozen cookies. Your production time changed the economics substantially.
Improve One Part of the Offer
You could simplify the decoration, establish a minimum quantity, purchase packaging more efficiently, or review the price. Time several real orders before deciding which change would help most.
Do not automatically remove quality customers value. Look first for work they never requested or complexity the price does not cover.
Your Playbook Assignment
Calculate the full modeled cost of your best seller. Then change one assumption—time, waste, quantity, or price—to see how much the remaining amount moves.
