What does "making expenses" mean?

I often hear the statement "I made expenses" from exhibitors at poorly attended shows.  I ask if they included the cost of replacing the inventory they sold as an expense.  Consistently the answer is "no".

I am guilty of this as well.  Since I don't time study my processes I really don't always have a good handle on what my creations really cost to produce and market.  Not a very good business model.  And finding the time to log all the data isn't easy either.

So this year I have embarked in writing down start and end times along with the task at hand in a effort to get a better grasp on the time I am putting in on a project.  It is a PIA for sure and I still haven't put that information into a spreadsheet.

How ever, I am fairing much better in tracking the materials that are consumed in each project.  I create detailed cut lists, in Excel, that have all the wood needed to be cut along with waste formulas and non-wood materials consumed by the project.  Once all that is verified I apply my keystone markups to arrive at a selling price.  Thus I know very well what I need to factor into the "I made expenses" statement.