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.

Ebony McCray

Adaptability is a significant challenge to profitability in our industry. Without the ability to adapt to the economy, network effectively, understand your audience, and make necessary changes to your business structure, maintaining profitability becomes incredibly difficult. Read more>>

James DeLorean

Lately TV writing has become exceptionally challenging due to a few macro level events. Of course the pandemic caused production delays, pulverized the economy, and COVID testing drove up production costs. A lot of people weren’t working. Before anyone had a chance to fully recover, the WGA strike happened. Read more>> 

Taysia Matthias

My main business is art-based and fully custom. It’s very easy for anyone to go to the grocery store and get a simple cake for $10; however, $10 wouldn’t even cover my cost of ingredients for a similar cake. Grocery stores have much lower costs than specialty bakers such as myself. Read more>>

Justine Cooper

I have a high-touch photography business, mostly shooting families in all stages of life. I personally do all the photography for a client, rather than farming it out, so there is only so much work I can take on. That’s intentional. One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to know new families and seeing them each year.  Read more>>

Adrianna Wang

The biggest challenge to profitability in the independent film industry, particularly for a start-up like Spike & Crown Studios, is securing adequate financing for film projects. As Asian American filmmakers, we face additional barriers in a market where 80% of films financed and released in the United States lose money. Read more>>

Christopher Salem

The biggest challenge to profitability in my industry as a business acceleration strategist is navigating the complex landscape of client expectations and market dynamics. Small business owners often come to us with high hopes for rapid growth, but their understanding of what it takes to achieve that can be limited. This gap can lead to several key challenges: Read more>>