We didn’t think we would have a busy week but we did. We sold more Father’s Day boxes than expected, almost as many as Mother’s Day (yay for dads!), plus we’re getting ready to deliver 2 shipments to local Brooklyn stores this week. You can now buy our line of cookies and marshmallows at Blue Apron in Park Slope and Provisions in Fort Greene.

I was talking to my friend Angie a while ago about how business expenses are a whole different approach to money. I think you know by now that we are very careful about our budget and I have even surprised myself with how little I have spent on anything other than essentials this year, (that’s not to say, of course, that I haven’t had the urge to shop. Quite contrary in fact…summer dresses, sandals…ah well) but we have been spending huge amounts of money for the business. Need more labels? OK, let’s charge another $700 on the credit card. More boxes for shipping? $145. Oh, we’re selling drinks now? We’ll need cups, straws and lids. Let’s make that eco-friendly please, made out of corn. $156. Why is it so easy to drop a few hundred dollars on supplies without blinking an eye, yet I’ll agonize over a shirt purchase?

Making money from stuff you make is different too than getting a paycheck from a job. Although I have to admit this notion is fading as time goes on, it’s almost like “free” money. When you’re a business owner, your time, as opposed to time on a client’s clock isn’t as precious and you tend to not calculate time into the profit equation, only materials, so it sort of seems like free money in the beginning. This isn’t really good business practice of course, so we’re in the process of trying to change our perceptions about that. Next step: keeping track of hours, as well as materials, to see how much we really are making an hour. We’re learning, we’re learning…