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.
Laura Zucker
The single greatest Challenge to profitability in the area of original music is streaming services like Spotify. Someone is getting rich off of streaming services, and it is not the creators. For example, Spotify pays me .004 cents for every time someone plays one of my songs. The other services are about the same. I would make $20 if someone bought my CD, or $10-15 if they downloaded a digital copy. Without a doubt it is the best time to be heard, the worst time to be paid. Read more>>
Tay 3K
The biggest challenge about profitability in my industry is the lack of value from promoters and club owners. Working in the entertainment industry can be challenging when others don’t value your talent resulting in taking more opportunities that may not have a monetary profit in the hopes that it will create more opportunities. This can be discouraging when trying to build a substantial career. Read more>>
Lexi Cline
I am a singer/songwriter with original music out on all streaming platforms. I started releasing music in 2020 and since then have dropped 14 tracks and am currently in the midst of releasing my first EP ‘Lost In My Mid 20’s’ slated to be a fully released project in October 2023. One of the biggest challenges I find in being an independent artist in the music industry in terms of profit would be the insanely low amount of income received per stream on all DSP’s. Artists received $.004 per stream on Spotify. Meaning if you get 1,000 streams you make $4, if you get 1 million streams you make $4,000. Not to mention that if you don’t own 100% of your royalties you have to pay a percentage of that to people who are also on the song. Read more>>
Mannie Ogletree Jr.
The biggest challenge to profitability in my industry is demographic. Working out is a key component to changing your body but no amount training can overcome a bad diet. In my area there isn’t a variety of health conscious foods, and it’s rare you can find a vegan restaurant or even a restaurant that serves fresh vegetables and fruits. I feel as if we have to change the narrative for healthy eating so we can normalize it. Some people say it’s boring or the taste isn’t appealing, but they don’t understand all the modifications and unhealthy contents that’s being added in our everyday food. Getting individuals to buy in to the fact that health is wealth and that movement of the body is important is another challenge presented by the demographic. Read more>>
Nik Paquin
Personally, the biggest challenge to profitability in the graphic design industry comes down to 2 big factors; Clients & Costs. While that might seem obvious at first, it’s an intricate issue that covers many facets of designs and affects anyone involved in the industry, even by proxy. For clients, the rise of easy-to-use apps such as Canva, mobile photo-editors, and more, mean that you’re expected to provide a service at a price that is low enough to warrant not doing it yourself, since most clients do not recognize how much of an impact proper graphic design can have on the sale of a product, the effectiveness of an ad campaign, or the success of your company. Read more>>
Kitty Mitchell
The custom stationery and wedding invitation industry, in particular, is currently facing unprecedented challenges to profitability due to the surging popularity of AI and plug-and-play design tools. Planning a wedding in Cabo and seeking a Mexican-themed, retro-style square invitation? Perhaps an antique monogram featuring two lions with two interlocking letters? A few simple keywords on Google can promptly deliver exactly what you’re looking for, often at a significantly lower cost compared to what an artist might charge. Read more>>
Andrew Modrzejewski
One of the biggest challenges we face in the restaurant industry is the ever-increasing cost of food and paper goods. Our mission is to feed people high quality fresh ingredients, and this is becoming harder and harder to accomplish. I have never been one to sacrifice good ingredients for the sake of making a profit. The problem in our demographic is we have a larger number of middle aged to older people that feel the $6.99 Two egg breakfast still exists. Which I hate to have to be the bearer of bad news but that is incorrect if you would like a farm fresh eggs, fresh fruit or potatoes, quality bacon or sausage, and toast $6.99 will not cut it. Read more>>
Cynthia Hernandez
People always ask me, why are you charging so much if they are just balloons, like if my knowledge and time doesn’t count. Yes balloons are not that expensive, but you will need certain level of skills to transform a simple garland to whole balloon installation, it looks easy but is not that simple. Read more>>
Josh Merideth
Like most professional fields, there are many challenges one must go through in order to reach a point in their business where they actually begin to figure things out. If I had to pick the biggest challenge, I would say discipline and managing emotions are two of the biggest challenges in our industry. Discipline because Real Estate requires time invested in coaching, developing your skills, understanding how the business works, market changes, contracts as well as learning how to effectively communicate with consumers. You must learn to implement and follow a schedule where lead generation is a non negotiable effort to feed your business. You must develop a mindset that is resilient and always focused on possibility and seek opportunity despite the many challenges life offers as well as immediate challenges with active clients. Read more>>
Nichole Biller
The biggest challenge, in my opinion, would be the amount of Djs in my area. It forces you to be different. To show the clients why you and not them. I believe what sets me apart from other Djs is my big personality and my respect for people. Read more>>
Amy Taylor
Profitability can look so different, not just across industries, but for each company, based on how you are structured and what you sell. Once you get your idea off the ground, you have to begin to build a customer base and make sales before you see money rolling in – and if you secured a loan to start your business, you’ll need to pay that off before you begin seeing a bigger profit, and that can take years. Read more>>
Jordyn Garca
When I tell people what my career path is, I tend to get the same reactions: “Oh, how’s that going?” In terms of managing my own company, I tend to get impressed responses, that is until I tell them what my company is. In my experience, being a photographer has its ups and downs. The good news happens when you are able to make 2 grand in a matter of 4 hours, but then it may take 3 weeks for another check to come in. The biggest challenge is consistency. Everyone has good and bad days, but in terms of managing a career in photography, sometimes the profit isn’t flowing in all the time. When I told my family that I wanted to pursue photography, they were obviously a little concerned, as any group of parents might be. Read more>>
Paula Macena
It’s currently a pretty difficult time for writers. With the ongoing writer’s strike, corporations feel that it’s okay to walk all over writers and underpay us for our work. A lot of creatives do work for free as they start out, but I’ve noticed that this is especially the case for writers, even as we progress in our careers. In fact, we’re oftentimes expected to PAY instead of BE PAID for our work to be showcased. The truth is, writers deserve a lot more than we get. We’re responsible for all the stories you know and love, and we stay in the shadows behind it, making less than almost everyone involved. And yet, we continue to do it because we love it. Read more>>