Real Numbers From My 2022 Freelance Goals

Last year, one of my most popular articles revealed the real numbers from my freelance business. So I’m going to post another update for this year.

I have two objectives for my business in 2022:

#1) Make $200,000 in revenue.

#2) Work no more than 1,100 hours.

Also, for context, last year I made around $211,000 and worked roughly 1,200 hours…

So another way to look at my goals for this year is that I want to roughly match my income from last year — while working 100 fewer hours.

See, I’m getting married at the end of the year. Plus my fiancé and I may also be moving, too.

Which is why I’m looking to cut my hours more than grow my income. Since I want to have that time available for my wedding, honeymoon, and moving.

And it means I’ll need to hit an effective hourly rate of roughly $182. That’s a modest $6-per-hour boost over last year, when I made an effective hourly rate of $176.

So how am I doing? Take a look…

Update After Q1 of 2022

Revenue Projection After Q1

When it comes to my Q1 revenue, I’ve actually had a pretty slow start to the year.

I wound up taking on a number of side projects that I hope will pay dividends long-term. But it means that I will need to make up some pretty significant ground in the remainder of the year to hit my goal.

The good news is that I’m on track to do that.

As I write this in April 2022, I just got a $10,000 performance bonus for a project I finished in January.

Plus I also got verbal approval on my biggest project to date. And at $50,000, closing that project would get me back on track to reach my goal for the end of the year.

So I’m still projecting that I can bring in $200,286 this year right now…

Work Hours Projection After Q1

One of the benefits of working on so many side projects during Q1 is that the work hours in my freelance business were way down.

Right now I’m projecting to work only 1,044 hours this year. And my goal is to stay under 1,100.

So I have a substantial buffer to put in the work I need to close the gap on my revenue goal. (And I expect my hours-worked projection will climb back up as I put in that time.)

Effective Hourly Rate Projection After Q1

My effective hourly rate projection is looking good right now at roughly $192.

But that assumes I’m able to hit my income goal — while also keeping my hours down to the current projection of 1,044.

And I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Like I said above, I have a feeling that my hours will go up as I work to close the gap in my revenue. And that will also bring my effective hourly rate down some.

At the same time though, my current effective hourly rate is only $177. Which is below my goal. So I do think that will come up to the point where I hit my objective of $182 or more.

Update After Q2 of 2022

Updated Revenue Projection After Q2

I’m now projecting to make $211,840 this year.

That’s about $11,000 more than I was projecting in my last update after Q1. (When I was projecting around $200,000.)

And it means I’m on pace to match how much I made last year. Even though you’ll recall my goal was actually to make a little less this year…

While working a lot less.

So how am I doing with that?

Let’s take a look…

Updated Work Hours Projection After Q2

My projected work hours have remained remarkably stable.

In fact, my projection has only gone up by a minuscule five minutes after the past three months.

That means I’m still on pace to work just 1,044 hours this year. Which is way under my goal of working 1,100 hours.

And it’s nearly 150 fewer hours than I had to work last year.

Plus I also have a nice cushion in case I need to work a little more in the months ahead to keep my revenue numbers up. (Which I think is likely to happen.)

Best of all, it means my effective hourly rate goal is shaping up nicely as well…

Updated Effective Hourly Rate Projection After Q2

I’m now projecting that my effective hourly rate will be over $200 for the first time ever.

And it’s also way over my goal of roughly $182 per hour.

However if you look at my actual effective hourly rate in this screenshot, you’ll see that it’s much lower.

Only $168.

The reason is that I’m about a week away from sending a large, five-figure invoice.

So I’ve logged almost all the hours for that project. But I haven’t collected the payment.

However once that invoice hits, my actual effective hourly rate will jump back up again and I’ll be in good shape.

Update After Q3 of 2022

Updated Revenue Projection After Q3

I’m now projecting to make $211,364 in revenue this year.

That’s almost exactly the same as I was projecting at the end of Q2.

Which means I’m still on pace to roughly match my income from last year of $211,000 and change.

And I’m almost certain to reach my goal of $200,000 for this year.

But remember, my goal for the year was actually to make a little less money…

While working a lot fewer hours.

So the fact that I’m on track to match my income from last year is actually better than I was expecting…

As long as I’ve been able to keep my hours in check, that is.

So how am I doing there?

Let’s take a look…

Updated Work Hours Projection After Q3

My projected hours for the year are also in great shape.

They’ve actually gone down by a few hours since the last update I shared.

And now I’m expecting to work just 1,029 hours this year.

That’s way under my goal of working 1,100 hours.

And it means — compared to last year, where I worked 1,200 hours — I will cut 170 hours from my work schedule.

That’s like taking more than an extra month off from a 40-hour-a-week job…

While making the same amount of money.

Not too shabby!

And it also means my effective hourly rate for the year is shaping up to be excellent…

Updated Effective Hourly Rate Projection After Q3

I’m still projecting that my effective hourly rate will be over $200 for the first time ever.

Which means I will almost certainly exceed my goal of making $182 per hour.

And with that, you’ve seen my most-recent numbers for the year…

Along with how I’m solidly on track to hit my goals for 2022.

Final Numbers For 2022

Now that 2022 is over, here are my final numbers for the year…

Final Revenue For 2022

I finished the year with $202,836 in revenue.

So I met my goal of earning over $200,000 for the second year in a row.

But if you’ve been following along, you’ll also realize that’s actually down from what I was projecting in Q3. (When I was expecting to make $211,000.)

There are two reasons I fell short of my projection from last quarter…

First, I wound up with a few outstanding invoices at the end of December that didn’t actually get paid until early January. So they’re not included in my final numbers for 2022. (And instead, they will help boost my 2023 revenue.)

But if those invoices had arrived on time, it would have gone a long way to helping me reach my projected income from last quarter.

Second, I had a client scheduled to start a large project in December. But when the time came, they decided to start with a smaller part of the larger project instead.

Which means instead of collecting a $12,500 invoice in December, I only collected $4,500.

And the difference between those two amounts alone would have basically been enough to close the gap and allow me to hit my revenue projections from last quarter.

But at the end of the day, I still hit my income goal for the year. So I’m not really worrying about it.

Especially since I wound up working way less than expected to earn that income…

Final Work Hours For 2022

I wound up working roughly 982 hours in 2022.

That’s more than 100 hours less than my goal of working under 1,110 hours for the year.

So once again — compared to last year, where I worked 1,200 hours — I cut more than 200 hours from my work schedule.

That’s like taking an extra five weeks of vacation from a 40-hour-a-week job…

While making the same income.

But most important of all, it gave me the time I needed during the year to both plan and enjoy my wedding, then move to a new home at the end of the year.

And it also means my effective hourly rate officially broke $200 for the first time in my career…

Final Effective Hourly Rate For 2022

My final effective hourly rate for 2022 was $206.56. Which means I easily beat my goal of making $182 per hour from my business.

And if you want to see how I was able to earn so much money for every hour I spend working, check out my three biggest money-makers from 2022.

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