Most side hustlers can tell you their revenue. Almost none can tell you their profit — and fewer still know their real hourly rate. Those are the only two numbers that matter.
Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity
$500/month from an Etsy shop sounds great until you subtract listing fees, materials, shipping supplies, and transaction fees. Plenty of “successful” side hustles net less than $100.
The number nobody calculates: true hourly rate
Take your monthly profit and divide by hours spent — including admin, packing, customer messages, and doom-scrolling your own reviews. If your hustle pays $6/hour, that's not a business, it's an expensive hobby. (Sometimes that's fine! But know it.)
The 10-minute setup
Three logs: income, expenses, hours — each tagged to a hustle. Then let formulas surface profit per hustle, $/hour, and the monthly trend. Review monthly, kill or double down quarterly.
Our Side Hustle Profit Tracker ($12) does exactly this for up to 6 hustles, in Excel or Google Sheets. Use LAUNCH20 for 20% off through August 15.