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.

Elina Krivulets

Photography as a very creative industry and most people going into it are thinking of taking photos first and business second. There is so much more to it than clicking a button. It starts with all the gear -there is always something new and exciting to try out. Editing programs, delivery programs, website hosting, classes to stay motivated and to be on top your game and so much more! According to Dane Sanders, 60 percent of photographers give up their business in the first year. Of the remaining 40 percent, another 25 percent will fail by the second year. The remaining 15 percent are the ones who endure through the third year. That’s an 85 percent turnover rate! Read more>>

Jay Roth

In the advertising industry, artificial intelligence treats creatives like punching bags. Its speed and ease makes it very alluring to startup companies unable to afford higher quality services, and seasoned companies with marketing directors who have price topping off their priority lists. As a copywriter and conceptual person, I feel like the trick is to create something AI simply cannot duplicate. Something that feels smarter, thought-provoking and human. Read more>>

Kelley Hoagland

I remember when someone first paid me for a newborn photography session, around $100. I thought I had arrived! Starting a photography business had been a largely unspoken hope of mine for some time. While I was regularly posting my images to social media and blogging, I had not yet really marketed myself as a photographer for hire. That first payment felt so affirming. $100 seemed like great compensation for an hour of work. However, like many photographers at the start of their business, I failed to recognized that it wasn’t really $100 (due to taxes and expenses) and it involved far more than an hour of work. Read more>>

Roger Cotton

Some photographers think “Other Photographers” are the biggest challenge to profitability. An up-and-coming photographer starts posting on social media and advertising $50 photo sessions with unlimited images, and crazy low prices that an established photographer simply can’t compete with. There’s plenty of work to go around, and those new photographers will either burn themselves out of the industry, or raise their prices to market. Either way, they don’t impact our profits that much. Read more>>

Trezana Renae

The biggest challenge to profitability in the industry that I’m in is that instead of women coming together collectively, other women are viewed as competition so you’ll find that they are trying to capitalize on areas that they don’t have expertise in just to be able to say that they’re successful and in turn we begin to lose credibility and the consumers begin to decline or not invest in the services for fear of being ripped off. Read more>>