Calculating the cost of doing business (CODB) is so important in order to run a profitable business. There are some very obvious items that will be calculated into your cost of doing business–equipment costs, insurance costs, etc. But what about those costs that are easy to overlook? Today is the day we pinpoint them to make sure you are including them in your CODB to make it as accurate as possible!

1. GAS. In my area, I travel a lot to get to weddings and sessions…usually about an hour each way to each session! That, on average, is about 30 miles each way, which obviously takes a lot of gas to commute to and from sessions. Not only should you be trying to anticipate gas costs, but you should also be tracking mileage for tax write-off purposes!
2. EDUCATION. Any time you purchase an educational resource (course, guide, membership, etc.), you’re doing so in order to level up your knowledge and client experience to make your business more profitable. You can use what you paid for education in the past year as a baseline, or you could set a budget for the year that you would like to spend on education. That allows you to have a set price in your calculations, rather than a variable number.
3. CREDIT CARD FEES. If you have a CRM and collect online payments through a company like Stripe or Square, they charge fees! I use Square and their fees are 2.6% of the sale + .10 per sale. That is significant over time, so that must be taken into account. Include those fees in your cost of doing business because it is illegal to pass those fees on to the consumer in many states!

These three items are all easy to overlook, but will add up quickly and begin to eat into your profit if not accounted for! Keep an eye out for those sneaky expenses!