A Look at The Numbers – Houston Market/Festival

I haven’t shied away from sharing what it takes to make it in this business.  I think the truth of running a business in this industry helps everyone.  I broke down my 2016 expenses here.  And I talked about my 2015 income here.

Now, I use miles to fly to Houston from Chicago, but even if I did add the $300 or so in flight to my travel numbers, it would still be dwarfed by the incredible housing costs Houston incurs.  For the second half of the trip I roomed with another teacher.  This pie chart is for both Market and Festival combined.

Shipping was much higher for me this year as well, because I had a booth to stock at Market with samples that could not go in my already crammed luggage.  I sent three boxes to Houston for teaching for Festival, and one for Market.

Here’s the rundown of my income/expenses for the last 3 years.  This year was not as profitable as last year, though my expenses were still not as high as 2015.    I know where things have to tighten up if I do this again.  Now, if you are thinking that the income doesn’t outweigh the expenses or the hassle, I don’t necessarily agree with that.  There are many many intangibles about teaching at Festival and exhibiting or even just attending Market that make it worthwhile to go.

There’s many points of data I would still like to track, such as classroom attendance and more.  We will see where my analysis ends up, but overall, I’m pleased I didn’t go into the negative or barely break even.