Have you ever had a friend look at a business and randomly throw out numbers that made it seem like that business owner must be making serious bank? We’ve experienced that many times, and know from conversations with operators and owners in those industries that their real profitability is often far, far less. The reason is often that there are unique challenges to profitability in almost every industry and so we wanted to create a space for entrepreneurs from across industries and markets to discuss the challenges to profitability in their industries.

Sheba CreativeAF

This is just my professional opinion, but I believe that the biggest challenge to profitability when working in Creative Services is not always knowing your worth and not being able to charge enough to create a sustainable income. This comes from generally low balling when starting out and not knowing how to raise your rates once you realize, it’s not enough. Additionally, the people who are seeking our services don’t actually know what the energy costs to produce projects for them, so they assume it should cost less for a photoshoot or commercial than it actually does. Read more>>

LeTony Hadnot

The biggest challenge is getting your voice heard. But in the same sense, we must learn how to make our voices heard. Fear is always the most significant obstacle to overcome in any challenge we face. It keeps us stuck in the same place if we don’t choose to face it. I was always afraid of marketing and cold selling to prospects because of fear of rejection. In that same fear, the idea of giving quotes that reflect my actual value always left me frozen in my tracks. That fear costs a lot not only in finance but mentally and emotionally. We can’t be afraid to be heard and to showcase our worth because talent doesn’t do it alone. Read more>>

Antoinne Duane Jones

At this point, technology is getting better and better thus people are starting to think that they can bypass professional photographers by simply using their smartphones. With that said, many photographers are losing opportunities based on cell phone usage. Read more>>

Maddie Cohen

In the industries I work in—content marketing and photography—I think it’s important to understand not only your skillset, but your ideal client. In terms of profitability (and job satisfaction), saying no to clients who might not be the best fit has been huge for me. Like in dating, a mismatch isn’t anything against the other person, but a matter of fit. Over the years, I’ve reached an understanding of what I look for in a client—the same way a client, ideally, understands what they want in a writer or photographer. When the fit is good, the relationship is conducive to a long-term partnership. Read more>>

Morgan Duke

I think there are two big challenges. The first challenge as a female small business owner, that provides a service, is knowing what your time is worth and setting a price to reflect that. There is fear in being rejected or being told “no,” so most of us set a low standard for what we feel our value is. The second challenge is learning how to navigate the social media world, or more so… HAVING to learn the social media world in order to be successful. I will be the first to admit I don’t even know what an algorithm is, so I have a lot more to learn. Read more>>

Kate Young

I love this question because I think it encompasses my career as a whole. I always wondered how I would make a career out of writing poetry. I’m sure that’s the question my parents asked themselves quietly when I decided to pursue a degree in Creative Writing. But alas, years later, I was a new mom at home with my kids when I realized there was still space for me in our home to be writing and space for me in the community to be sharing my work. That started on Instagram and overtime, led to the launch of my online poetry print shop. Poem prints were a new concept to me. Read more>>

Rodrick Duran Blackman

Music streams. With these platforms, you only get a fraction of a percent of the profit. The corporate guys have really figured out how to corral money into their pockets and away from the artists. If an artist wants to get their music on Spotify or iTunes you have to use aggregates and then the artist only gets a fraction of a percent of the profit. The best case scenario is to have a deal with a viable label or record company, but if you are a self-starting artist there are all these odds stacked against you. I was a part of and served on the board of directors for MAMA, a non-profit musicians advocacy group based out of Missoula, Montana. Read more>>

Stacy Coplin

Creating our Yaupon Matcha product is the most innovative thing I think I’ve done with my career so far. The story of how it came to be is a big part of what I think makes this product so unique. In 2018 we had a trip to Japan planned and before we left for our adventure, we had the idea of creating a matcha powder from yaupon one evening while driving back from wild-harvesting. I began to reach out to Japanese companies that make matcha and one thing led to another and I was connected with a contact in Japan. We set aside some of our trip for work and visited green tea farms, visited facilities and learned insights into the process behind making green tea matcha. Read more>>

Lisa Pittman

Create a practice area out of thin air, colleagues tell me. In 2015, I was a 15 year commercial litigation forever associate burned out and beaten down by a variety of life events. I read about the Texas Compassionate Use Act for cannabis for epilepsy, and what the lives of these families were like, and the treatment choices they were having to make. I could empathize with these mothers; my daughter had juvenile epilepsy, and I had to choose between constant monitoring or organ damaging drugs, and between two doctors who gave conflicting diagnoses and treatment plans. The fact that a plant could not be used as a tool lit the fire under me to do something about it. Read more>>

Jacob Spacek

Largely, my business is steeped in tradition. Historically, painting is one of the oldest human activities that we have records of, so artists have pretty much figured out every substrate you can possibly paint on by now. We have also built a long tradition of painting on all kinds of canvases of different shapes, sizes and materials….I could go on, but the point is that in such a historic profession, there is little room for innovation as far as product development. (That being said, I do have a couple ideas for new canvases which could be revolutionary, that I will not share with you yet.) Read more>>

Mac Daro

The biggest challenge to obtaining profitability Is making people value you as you do yourself It’s a lot of different intangibles that come into why a person chooses to support your business monetarily Me personally I value my skill set and ability to do what I do versus the numbers although I feel numbers are important I feel they can easily be obtained by having a budget Read more>>

India Butts

The most innovative thing I have done in my career as a professional Face Painter. Would have to be my latest creation of a water activated, anti bacterial Face Painting removal Wipe. My creative ideas just don’t stop there, I also have a Face Painting Children’s Activity Book that’s full of fun for any age! You can find my Book at Wal-Mart.com or Amazon.com. For Face Painting removal Wipes send me a email [email protected] Read more>>

Anthony Romano

For me, I think the most innovative thing I had done in my career is picked up a camera. When I was growing up, and especially in high school, I always wanted to be a graphic designer. I love design! Legit geek out on typefaces, layouts, color schemes, you name it. And I always wanted to design album art! So when picking a major in college, Graphic Design was the obvious choice. I took a couple of photo classes in college, and almost had a duel major, but decided to graduate in four years instead haha. So I focused more on design, and learning how to be profitable if I wasn’t going to be working at a large ad agency. That brought be in to marketing. Trust me, this all adds up haha. So I have been in Marketing for over 15 years. Read more>>

Brian Duong

I think it’s safe to say that I literally have the best customers/clients/friends ever. The bakery has connected me with so many sweet individuals that I forget that I’m the one that’s supposed to supply something sweet to them. A couple of months ago I felt overwhelmed, anxious, and pressured from running the bakery (being the sole baker, social media person, r&d person, etc). Trying to keep up with other businesses by being a vendor at a pop-up/market every two weeks on top of custom orders, maintaining a personal life, a relationship, etc, was exhausting. I had stopped taking care of myself and lost sight of what the bakery was intended to be. Read more>>

Misantropia Miscelanea

Many years ago, when I was just 17 and started my solo artist career (in an underground way as today) a man whose name I can’t remember told me the most motivating words no one ever told me:”No matter what the people may say to your music, up there on stage you are the general, nobody else can say anything when you’re at your own, but shake their heads,listen to the lyrics and enjoy the time”. At that time, my world turned 360 degrees and I opened my eyes finding out that what I create is not something to be controlled by another one who is not me, and mind making my craziness an structure able to be understood. Read more>>

Tina Falk

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me happened in 2012. My Feng Shui Master asked me to meet up with her. She announced she was ready to retire and passed the torch to me. What she gifted me in that moment…..she saw me. Me! She valued the work I had done and trusted me with her feng shui school. This was huge for me. It was exhilarating and oh so scary. I even tried to talk her out of it. She has been there for me since day one (in 2005). We have a unique back-story and it’s something that has bonded us for life. I am and will forever be grateful for her sharing her wisdom, allowing me to be curious, and her loving and supporting me like family. Read more>>

Dr. Katashia Partee Kendrick

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me changed my life forever. I almost flunked out of college my very first semester. I was carrying 18 credit hours and became incapacitated by loneliness. I missed home. I missed the comforts of home and the security it provided. College was new and different. It required me to step out of my comfort zone. Now remember, I was still dimming my light. Had it not been for Dr. Milton, she worked with the Black Cultural Center at University of Tennessee where I was a freshman, I would have suffered a huge L. There on the bench, she talked me through my tears, asked me to come with her. Read more>>

Serg EF

Hello CanvasRebel and thank you for taking the time to chat with me… I’ve chosen this topic because there is a particular story that comes to mind. I’ve had an unusually volatile life – I was born in Russia, and when I was 12 my family came to the United States on refugee status. We spent almost a decade nomadically moving from city to city, school to school, state to state. I’ve attended 7 public schools and 5 colleges, before exiting the school system. In each of those fleeting seasons of my upbringing, there were unbelievably kind and shockingly difficult people that did great and terrible things. So when I tell this story I have to assign it to a specific period in my life – my life as an artist – and the kindest thing anyone has done for me in my artistic life actually happened very recently. Read more>>

Roda Colo Colo

I treat my customers the way I would like to be treated. I show kindness by giving them discounts or a free pair of earrings, and I talk to them and tell them my story. Years later, they progressed from being my customers and became my friends. One friend knew I was going back to the Philippines with family, so she surprised me with quilted blankets for my three daughters during my market. Another customer friend, when she saw me at the market the next day, she gave me a handmade ring made by her mother. Read more>>

Marcus Amaker

One of the kindest gifts I ever received happened in honor of a student who passed away unexpectedly. I led this student in a poetry workshop in 2019 – she was curious and vibrant, and was impacted by the writing, sharing, and vulnerability that happens in a workshop. Last year, I found out that the student was in a car accident and died. She was only 14 years old. I wrote a poem for her funeral, and her family made a custom journal for me. It instantly made me cry. The custom journal’s artwork referenced the poem I wrote. Read more>>

Robert Harding

I’ll answer this question in relation to what I do creatively, which is to play music. These days I am more often on a stage with a listening audience, but in the early years of playing professionally I played all those “paying-your-dues” gigs. There have been times where I was not getting any response from the people in the room. Like in a coffee house because they aren’t present necessarily to listen to music. There have been other gigs where, volume wise, I was being overpowered by vocal chatter to the point you can’t hear yourself play. I have, at some of those times wondered why I do it at all. Yet, like everyone else who does that sort of thing, I keep on playing. Read more>>

JaCoya Rivers

The kindest thing someone has done for me was sponsored the pre-launch of my business by investing their own hard earned money into my brand. I had anticipated to start The New Pretty and really get the ball rolling much quicker than actually happened. With COVID 19 hitting in the midst of my launch; it was very discouraging at moments to proceed with my vision for my brand. I had been doing grant applications every other day, looking for business scholarships, saving as much money from my 9-5 as possible on top of doing small gigs/odd jobs to save enough extra money to fund my dream. Read more>>

Marino Lemons

The most kindest thing someone has done for me was honestly believe in me and my dreams. That act of kindness and love truly supported me during hard times; at a moment where most would have given up I kept going. Having such loving support truly helps me succeed in all of my efforts. Im a better man and business professional because of it. Read more>>

Shonae “Naina” Morgan

The kindest thing someone has ever done for me was believe in me when I didn’t believe in myself! People seen things in me that I didn’t see & motivated me to push myself for greatness. I was given a platform and knowledgeable advice which I took in & put actions towards.. Now I am in a way better predicament than I ever was ! Shoutout to them <5 Read more>>

Sean Zearfoss

I feel incredible fortunate to live in a world that loves art. It might be a cliche to say, but all art (and especially music) is a universal language. If we’re lucky, what we create transcends time, space, culture, and geography to reach an audience. While we’re here for a finite number of years, what we create today can theoretically live on for eternity. We have the potential to change others long after we’re gone. However, valuing art is different. Read more>>

Billiejo Hudson

It takes money to make money. Don’t think you can just buy a cheap dog, breed them together and boom, you’re rich! That’s not how it works. A lot of time ,money, and research goes into this. Read more>>