Profits differ from net income, and no where is there clearer than for small business owner-operators, artists, and creatives. Just because you have a certain amount of money left over after covering expenses doesn’t mean you’ve made profits. Why? Because you have to factor in the cost of your labor and the risk you took and so after factoring that in, millions of small businesses and artists and creatives are operating with little to no profit. However, it doesn’t have to be this way and so we wanted to create a space where sharp entrepreneurs and creatives could come together and discuss the challenges to profitability and potential solutions. If you have something valuable to add to this conversation that can help others achieve profitability, please reach out to us as we want to get your ideas in front of our readers.

Gary Dickens J.r.

Our biggest challenge to profitability was not being able to keep up with demand when we first started with the amount of orders that were coming in. This was a challenge because not having the capital to keep up with demand caused us to lose money because we weren’t able to purchase inventory in order to turn profit. Read more>>

Georgie San Miguel

This is always an interesting question for anyone running restaurants, bars, or clubs. I have had many people (especially non-profits/schools lookings for donations, Vendors when we need to reduce their services) tell me, ” Well you guys were full this weekend, i’m sure you are swimming in money” People do not take into account all of the added costs. Liability Insurance for Bars is astonomical! Having proper amount of Security when you are a downtown property is crucial, and very expensive. We strive to keep all of our patrons and staff members safe – it is definitely a priority for us.  We also had the worst thing possible happen this last winter – January 7th several pipes burst in one of our building that caused so much damage. It impeded us opening for about 3 and a half weeks, and resulted in over 90 thousand in damages. That quarter we saw no profitability.  Read more>>

Ted Russell Kamp

I am a professional musician and have been my entire adult life. One of the big challenges music creators have faced is the gradual devaluation of music. A few decades ago, people would have to buy the music they wanted to own and even with the profits that many record labels would be making, the musicians would actually get paid regularly for the music they recorded. As Napster and then years later streaming services have come along, it’s made being a consumer of music easier and easier which is great for the audience but now artists are making fractions of a penny per play. We’ve needed to stay creative while finding other ways to make a living while making music. For me that has been playing live and staying active in the recording studio, whether I am a session musician or a producer. Read more>>