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.

Ignacio Orellana

Basically, because of the advance technologies and their use of AI and apps the general people has become to believe that everyone out there needs to be an artist or some sort of unique celebrity. It is easy to take photos with phones and it is easy to use apps and AI to modified them but that doesn’t mean that everyone with a phone is a photographer or videographer. People today, and I mean business owners value that easy going way of things over the quality and that is how affect us as professionals. Read more>>

Justin Charboneau

Profitability in the cookie/cake/treat baking and decorating industry can vary with every order. This is primarily because this industry is based on a handmade craft of sorts and the most expensive part of decorating cookies is time. I pride myself in designing and creating unique cookies for every order. I specialize in custom orders, so I rarely make the same designs twice. Because of this, it can be difficult to gauge profitability due to the varying time each order takes to complete. On top of that, I don’t believe many of us in this industry charge enough based on the time and effort that goes into every set of cookies! Read more>>

Amber Taylor

As a maker and small business owner, I’ve continually noticed that most of the population expects low prices and fast shipping. Big names that can get you cheap goods in a day or two have conditioned customers to expect the same of small business owners and it’s just not feasible. When you purchase a handmade product from a small business, you’re supporting not only the maker but recognizing that the product has hours of work invested in it and that the product has the love and care of the individual who crafted it. Essentially, you’re supporting their dream! And to be honest, most small business owners and makers are cutting their prices trying to make a sale, which means they’re making WAY less than they should. Read more>>

Brooks Leibee

Most of the time it all comes down to what YOU can offer – and what other people in your field cannot. Whether or not that services or product or both. Have I found exactly what that for me as ‘Brooks the composer’? I have no idea – but in the time that I have put into this field, I’ve discovered that there are a few other facets that lend an advantage. One being loyalty. If you find yourself working in a group/ with an individual that you can tell appreciates your time and respects your discipline and background… keep close and networking off of this group/ individual will usually lead to more reliable opportunities. This isn’t in a parasitic way, but in the sense of sticking in the same friend group. It almost goes hand in hand, as my favorite ideology in the industry of film and media production is “make cool stuff with great friends”. Read more>>

Carmen Sauceda

I believe there are a few challenges. Right now products keep going up that has been one of the biggest factors. Just inflation in general is hurting everyone. So sometimes a client wants to book but are hurting due to inflation. It affects their budget. So they end up looking for someone that is cheaper rather than the artist they truly want. Business wise I can’t really lower my prices because of inflation or I won’t be profiting all. It’s been a real challenge lately. Read more>>

Kalli Indianna

When people see super successful photographers on social media they may assume that’s the standard, but that’s not true. There are many obstacles to profitability within photography. The first is that many people assume all that it takes to be a photographer is “clicking a button”. Because the skill, knowledge, and artistry required for photography is misunderstood or underestimated, people often aren’t willing to invest in a photographer. Read more>>

Josh Lehenbauer

In terms of profitability within the food photography and blogging world, I’ve stumbled across two major roadblocks: a lack of transparency from other creatives and every brand valuing different social metrics. When I was just starting out, no one was willing to share even a base pricing model with me. Whether it be for a few product photos or an instagram post, I found myself both comprising often and working for much less than I should have. Only once some fellow bloggers began to flat out share what they were charging with me, was I then able to start charging appropriately myself. Read more>>

Rachel Young

This is a funny question to answer today because I looked at my business bank account this morning and was trying to figure out where all the money went. Then I remembered that I paid taxes and rent and insurance and worker’s comp and the phone bill and utilities and I had to buy more paper bags and more taxes and payroll and and and and. It’s hard to make a profit in any small business because there are a billion things that cost money to run a business and all of those costs go up, often. I had a customer tell me a few months ago that she remembers when my prices were low. I laughed and said I also remembered when my costs were low. If the price of gas and groceries goes up, you should assume that everything else is going up as well. Read more>>

Kelly O’Brien

One of the biggest challenges in the creative industry I think is having to justify your pricing and costs. There are a lot of businesses out there that don’t want to pay for creative because they don’t really think it has value. There are so many available apps, programs, and people out there telling business owners and clients that you don’t need a graphic designer, you can do this yourself. While technically, that is true, anyone can use an app and create something. But what I do personally through Kelly Eileen Designs, and what we do together through Kettle Powered Media is a learned and honed in skill. Read more>>

Cam Sale

Working for free for “to build a portfolio”. It’s huge topic in our industry; when starting out, it’s tempting to offer free photo/video/drone footage to people who ask for it because you need to create a portfolio to then show other potential clients. It’s a big Catch 22 because while we do need material to show prospective, bigger clients, it can devalue the industry by working for free. Finding that proper balance of charging something (even if it’s a 75% discount) for your work can show that your time is worth something and clients shouldn’t expect great work for free. Read more>>

Miranda Baxter

Photography is such an interesting industry. So what makes a profitable Photography business? In short: a business that works FOR YOU instead of YOU working for IT. As an entrepreneur, time is money. So setting up workflows and automations is a huge step toward being profitable since your business is doing the work for you. However, if all it took to be profitable was to set up a Client Management Software and email triggers, being profitable would be a lot easier. Read more>>