How Much Did I Make in 2021 Selling Graphic Designs?

Regular readers know I semi-retired to 20 hours a week at my main job in 2017 after reaching financial independence years before.  Since then much of my newly freed time has been spent on what started as a fun side hustle and has turned into a nice little business of doing graphic design. 

In 2019 it really started gaining traction and I earned $7,143.  You can read that report here. 

Then came 2020.  When covid got serious in March of 2020 sales almost stopped and I feared I was doomed.  But like the stock market it came roaring back and I made $14,932.  You can read the 2020 report here. 

2021 was pretty good to me.  How much did I make ?  Let’s get to it!

Continued Growth

In 2021 my graphic design business made $20,743.  I topped $20k for the first time!  It’s a 39% increase from 2020, and I’ll take that.  Growth slowed pretty significantly from previous years, but I still grew. 

Here’s a chart of my monthly earnings in 2021:

Of note, I had two down months from my 2020 totals.  Revenue for September and October 2021 were both down from the same months in 2020, and that wasn’t a good sign.  But November came roaring back and destroyed my November from 2020. 

And my December revenue is almost three times my monthly mortgage! 

Overall I’m pretty stoked, even though I have to admit I had some expectations of doing a bit better.  Going into 2021 I was hoping to maybe be closer to the $24,000 mark for the year for a nice even $2k a month average.  As the year progressed I realized that wasn’t going to happen and I’m good with that. 

It would be easy to get disappointed in not meeting a goal, no matter how unofficial or back of the napkin it was.  But I constantly remind myself to step back and look at the big picture.  Just 2 years ago I made $7,143, and the year before that in 2018 I made just $2,751 – way less than my December total alone for this year! 

As for the big picture, here’s a chart of my entire earning history since I started in 2016:

I need to look at that chart anytime I feel down about a bad month in sales.  Or anytime I get imposter syndrome.  As a matter of fact I should get it printed poster size and put it on the wall in my office. 

The blue line is going up, and I can’t believe I’ve made over $47,000 selling designs.

The Future

From 2019 to 2020 I more than doubled revenue, but I cannot expect to continue doing that.  At that rate I’d be making over $238,000 by 2024.

The type A in me who likes to accomplish and conquer wants to believe that’s a reachable goal.  He’s a real pisser. 

But the realist in me knows that’s unsustainable, and setting goals like that would just introduce unnecessary pressure and expectations that would take away from the fun of the whole endeavor. 

And I largely do it because it’s fun.  I get a real kick out of people forking over their hard earned money for something I created.  It’s really rewarding, more than my W2 job has been for the past 7 or 8 years. 

So I’m happy with 39% growth, and based on my trajectory I should expect less growth in 2022.  The good thing is I don’t have shareholders to answer to, haha.  If I were a big company I’d have to be on calls explaining how I’m going to get that 39% growth number up next year. 

That would suck.

But being a “company of one” (<– affiliate link) as Paul Jarvis puts it I can stay small, nimble, and most importantly fun. 

Best of all since my business is based on the royalties of existing works, I could stop working on it all together in 2022 and expect to make around another $20,000. 

Yep, for doing nothing. 

And if you saw my post from last week I spent $36,478 in 2021.  So my pre-tax business earnings covered 56.8% of my expenses for the year!  Instead of the 4% “rule of thumb” for a safe withdrawal in retirement I could lower that number WAY down as I’ve built a fun business that covers a huge chunk of my yearly expenses.  

Lastly I’d like to thank all of my customers in 2021, especially those in the financial independence community who have purchased a product from me or supported me in other ways.  You have my gratitude!

*This article contains affiliate links. Using those links throws some change in my pocket at no additional cost to you. Here’s my disclosure.