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.

Sean Lyons

The largest challenge to profitability in food & beverage is internal culture and societal misconceptions. In the restaurant industry, staffing and the ability to increase prices are the keys to success outside the basics of creating amazing food and drinks. Read more>>

Tori Mengel

Competing with the advancement of technology, corporations producing nameless art for cheap, the rising demand of quick turnaround and instant results, and customers paying what artists deserve without question. I think it’s really difficult to create a brand for yourself, a style, original ideas in a world where everything has been thought of already, and then sell it. Read more>>

Zachary Fleishman

As a creative in this new generation of a digital age, especially living in California, you oftentimes find yourself in a very competitive atmosphere in the industry. People will gate keep locations, techniques, skillsets, networks, and it can become a very toxic environment if you are not head strong with you, your work, and the name / brand you have achieved for yourself. You’ll meet hundreds of people who most of which will come and go. But you will also find people that stick. Read more>>

judy Weaver

I founded and run a small non-profit with a global reach and we had plateaued in our ability to raise funds and awareness. I was frustrated with my lack of non-profit executive and fund-raising experience. My chairman of the board introduced me to a powerhouse philanthropic executive who literally took me under her wing. She told me that we are the best-kept secret in a town that has more non-profits per capita than anywhere else in the United States and she proceeded to bring us into the spotlight. Read more>>

Katie Fischer Cohen

I had always wanted to be a stationery designer, even a a child. I started my career in the entertainment industry. I was working fulltime at Endeavor Talent Agency in Los Angeles and making handmade sets of cards on the side that I sold at a boutique in LA and in the Hamptons. This was my passion but how could I start my own business? It was scary and unknown. Read more>>

LaTia McNeely-Sandiford, MSW

The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for me came by way of personal sacrifice, unconditional love and unrelenting support from my two grandmothers, Berdie Younger (Momma) and Catherine McNeely (Grandmother/Kitty), who raised me. As an only child, growing up in urban Jersey City, New Jersey, amidst the perils of poverty, addiction, socioeconomic decline and environmental challenges, unfortunately, my parents were addicted to heroin. They were young parents who didn’t have an opportunity to recover from their addiction. Read more>> 

Laura Dark

I think the biggest challenge to profitability in the photography industry is ourselves. The owners, the photographers, afraid to charge what we are worth. A lot of photographers shoot trade for print work, where the model and photographer do a session and no money exchanges hands, which is great for portfolio building, but once you are established, there is no reason to give away sessions and I think a lot of photographers don’t know when to stop. Read more>>

Erica Franks

When you see a Physical Therapist (PT) now in 2023, we have a Doctorate level education and tons of letters behind our name. These letters mean that we have advanced Board certifications, completed residencies, and taken long hours of training and testing for additional certifications to perfect our craft. But what comes with that, are low paying jobs in our field because of insurance reimbursement rates. Read more>>

Bret Whitman

I think the biggest challenge with making a profit, and this industry is the fact that it’s such a niche market. Not a lot of people, Spearfish, and the ones that have successful businesses center their business around doing guided trips or charters. I never wanted to make that part of my business plan. I think there’s room for something different in our community that can be both profitable and serve a different purpose. Read more>>

Kimberly Gordon

Food cost has been at an all-time high! This causes pricing to go up…which people really don’t take the time to consider. Restaurants are doing the exact same thing but because they buy in such large amounts, you dont see it as blatently obvious. Look at where gas prices ]are…but you HAVE to buy gas….its essentially the same concept. Read more>>

Sunset Cement Concrete Artist

Being a business, one may assume that we can purchase our supplies at wholesale, cost or discount pricing but being a small business this sometimes is not the case. Managing cost is a skill we have to learn along the way. For a long time, as a business owner, we feel excited that we are breaking even or just having fun and enjowhat we do. Read more>>

Rosina Luca

Changing the industry standards across the board in the beauty industry is very important. Putting policies in place such as deposits to book appointments and cancellation policies is so important to keep business thriving in moments when we as beauty professionals time has been taken advantage of. Read more>>

James Knox

The kindest thing someone done for me was taking a CHANCE on me. When I started my non profit RGE Cares all I had was the slightest experience I gained volunteering under my mentors Robin Petgrave and Debra Larry. I had very little knowledge of running my OWN non profit but through my experience volunteering under those mentors I learned the basics of doing so. Read more>>

D’anice Dishmon

The biggest challenge is remaining relevant and keeping supporters engaged without enraging anyone. The attention span of most fans is a good 10 seconds. Getting the audience to follow you past that you have to have a captivating opening and make them want to follow the story you’re telling. Less details is always best unless the details are necessary. Read more>>