Budget and some other considerstions.

Usually people don’t talk about that, but hikr is not an usual project, it’s more like an expedition to the unknown. Also, we noticed that some people think that we earn very much, or that we want to earn very much. The answer is : no. Hikr.org is a non-profit project. In a perfect world it would be free and without ads. In a real world we have to eat something and to live somewhere. And no, it’s not an after-job hobby either. our hobbies are like yours: hiking, climbing, photography, ...

So, we did some calculations and fixed an amount that represent what we need : CHF 2700 / month.

It includes everything: flat, charges, food, insurance, taxes, transportation, server, internet, telephone and some other costs for two people and one dog. If we have a state-subside for the insurance those costs can be reduced to 2500.

This number is minimalistic, because it don’t include things like computer that breaks, medical or other unforeseen costs. A comfortable number would be about 3000.

Currently our income is much lower.  And our expenses are bigger, thanks to the stress.

We can afford this low cost of living because we live in a relatively cheap place. No kids. We have a garden. We don’t need car, tv, mobile phones, hotels, restaurants, credits, suits, ties and similar shit.

Usually people think that it’s easy to earn money with ads. They look at some journal website (like nzz), find ad prices (CHF 30-100 per 1000 views) then multiply. Well, forget your math. We are not in the right « segment ». At this moment, our only real friends are our users and GoogleAds. Hikr (and similar websites) doesn’t have the right audience to advertize mobile phones or travel to dubai. It seems that even the mountain equipment people prefer other places. That’s right. Hikr is not commercial, it’s anti-commercial. That’s why we love it.

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Stani