Fiscal Fitness

So if you know me, then you know I can't stand exercising. It's boring, there's no goal, no competition, and generally no point. Because I stink at exercise, I am not competitive, so there's no use doing it. I'm trying to find unique ways to get fit including bike riding with Liam (my son). This seems to work a lot better than just running in circles around the neighborhood. We've been biking to my old lady friend's house, which is 3.7 miles round trip. We usually eat pretty healthily and are really trying to monitor our portion sizes. But there's always room for improvement.

While I'm not particularly physically fit, Atala Montessori is fiscally fit! I've been working on all our tax statements for this year and learned a lot. First of all, we went from loosing around $80,000 in our first year of business to loosing only $8500 in our second year of business. While you may look at that and say, 'wow, they are loosing a lot of money,' the first figure represents all the money we put into the school to get it started—the building renovations, the purchases of workbooks, furniture, computers, and all the other equipment associated with a school. Did you know that those little kiddy toilets found in most schools cost $400 a piece? And that doesn't include the installation! The requisite drinking fountains are $800 per fountain! Everything adds up quickly. So loosing only $80 grand is not bad for our start-up year. Last year we only lost $8500, but keep in mind we opened up a new classroom. So we had many renovations and purchases, but for a single room (which helped a lot).

This is we should finally be able to bank something and really start saving for a permanent building, a final home for Atala. We really want to stop renting and have something that we own—the land, the building, and the business.

With all this, I am so proud to say that as of this month, the school has grossed $1,000,000 since its inception! We have, indeed, Spread Our Wings!