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.

David Hinton

The biggest issue with profitability is visibility and access to working with magazines and well-paying brands. As a freelance wardrobe stylist having access to magazines and brands is tough. Avenues like Kavyar allow submissions to their magazine platform but do not pay the creators. Yet, the creator has to pay for the magazine. Being creative is tough in itself because you don’t want to replicate someone else’s work and also have to put out content that touches people. Read more>>

Jeff Couch

I believe the biggest challenge to profitability in product or food photography is smart phones and the apps created to simplify processing of photos. The target market for professional food photography has shifted and in turn has shrunk. Working with agencies and food product photography remains a stable market but the local eatery website and self advertising photography has shrunk. In addition because of social media photos tend to be “insta”nt, and client don’t always plan out their social media shot list, therefore we aren’t the right choice. Read more>>

Coroma Combs

The biggest challenge to profitability I believe is understanding that you have to realize businesses aren’t successful unless they understand profit and expenses and how they should balance or eventually profit exceeds expenses. I had to learn the hard way. I was purchasing supplies and shipping but the profit didn’t exist due to my lack of understanding the idea is to obtain profits to remain existent and successful. Your expenses shouldn’t be more than your profit unless you have a plan to offset them. Read more>>

Kierra Myers

The biggest challenge to profitability in my industry is individuals not understanding the value of career services. Whether that be paying for a resume revamp or a mock interview. Most people view a resume as just a piece of paper. When a resume is more than just a piece of paper, it can help you land opportunities that increase your finances and your way of living. A resume can be a game changer not only for just the candidate but their family as well. Read more>>

Olivia Russell-Bain

The challenge in expanding our profit margin in this business is getting people to see the value in our products and services. When you operate in a market, where some people think they can do it themselves, or other businesses sell similar products for significantly cheaper, it becomes disheartening to explain to customers, the cost of materials and supplies and the amount of time and work that goes into creating a product that must be compensated in a sustainable manner. Read more>>

Alyssa Menshausen

Working in the design industry (or any art bases industry) for so long, you hear a lot of “I think I will just try to do it myself”, or “We are trying to cut costs and do it ourselves”. This can be so defeating to many people getting started, and still after 15+ years is something I hate to hear. Competing with all the DIY apps that aid in design has become a very large challenge for branding and design companies. Read more>>

Brandon Gathers

There are actually 3 things that I believe are the biggest challenges to profitability in my industry. They are knowing your worth or value, sticking with your business standards and attracting the right consumers. In this industry especially as small businesses, the market is unreliable, unpredictable and requires plenty of hard work. I believe that it first starts with you knowing your value because if you don’t know your worth, it will be difficult to convey that to people who want to pay you and even people who don’t want to pay you for your services. Read more>>