Blog
Notes on pricing, property, weddings and small business numbers — the mistakes that cost money and the arithmetic behind them.
- Wedding
The wedding costs nobody budgets for
Venue, catering and photography are the easy numbers. The ones that break a wedding budget are smaller, later, and mostly not on anyone's list.
- Airbnb & Short-Term Rentals
Why your Airbnb made money last year and not this one
Same flat, same rate, same occupancy, less profit. Usually it is not the market. It is the length of the average stay.
- Construction
The quote that loses money
A contractor can win the job, do the work well, get paid in full, and still lose money on it. Usually for one of four reasons.
- Real Estate & Landlords
A good cap rate that loses money every month
Cap rate describes the building. Cash flow describes your month. A property can look healthy on one and be underwater on the other.
- Small Business
Discounting to chase volume usually moves you further from break-even
A ten percent price cut does not need ten percent more sales to stay level. Depending on your margin it can need forty.
- Freelancers
The freelance tax surprise is a cash flow problem, not a tax problem
Most freelancers who get caught out by a tax bill knew roughly what it would be. They just spent it first.
- Homestead & Chicken
What a flock record is actually for
Not compliance, and not sentiment. Written records mostly exist so you notice a pattern before it becomes obvious.
- AI & Productivity
AI subscriptions add up quietly
Twenty dollars a month never feels like a decision. Eleven of them is a salary line, and most teams cannot list what they are paying for.
- Creators
Pricing a brand deal when you have no idea what to charge
Follower count is the worst input available and it is the one most creators use. Here is what to price from instead.
- Small Business
When a spreadsheet is the right answer and when it is not
Spreadsheets are better than software for more jobs than people admit, and worse for a few they keep trying to use them for.