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.

Caitlyn Sheff

I can’t quite say that it’s hard to be profitable for everyone in this industry, but I think it’s challenging if you’re going about your business in a way that provides fair compensation and low financial barriers of participation. Yoga studios as a whole don’t have a lot of overhead. There’s a lot of capital expenses involved, like getting your blocks, straps, bolsters or even heating panels. Those are a one-time purchase though. So monthly, it’s utilities, it’s rent (which is a HUGE expense comparatively speaking), loan payments and payroll. On the flip side of it, studios typically charge anywhere from $25-30 per drop-in class and upwards of $175 per monthly membership. This should work, right? Eh, sometimes. Read more>>

Tom Benway

Web design and development is still such a wide open field as far as quality and costs – it can take time to find where to fit in. Corporations can sometimes charge outlandish rates, but also have huge teams, whereas as a freelancer, you’re working with much more limited resources. It can be hard to find a margin that feels right and is also acceptable to your customers, especially when starting out. It can be ever harder to raise your rates, especially if you’re working with long-term customers. Last, it can also be hard to justify costs with customers when the product is somewhat intangible. Read more>>

Melanie Hansen

Sleep is a complicated thing. Many parents looking for help with sleep either have decided they want free help to hack their child’s sleep, or they are too embarrassed to ask for help from a professional. Many think sleep consultants are just waving a magic wand and fixing sleep issues. My biggest issue in profitability has been convincing parents that asking for help is not wrong. Paying someone to be your cheerleader and supporter in a hard time is normal. We pay life coaches, therapists, fitness coaches and chiropractors to help us when we are struggling. Why not pay a sleep coach to help guide you through tough decisions when it comes to your baby and sleep? Read more>>

Drako Santino

Your biggest challenge as a professional DJ will be receiving the pay you are actually worth. Many venues have a set budget for events, so it’s important to receive the pay your a valued at & also present the highest quality of all around professionalism. Read more>>

Khali Watson

Balancing the genuine passion for creating with the never ending pressure of selling a service. In photography and film, there are so many ways to make money. Ways that may not be genuine to who you actually are. It’s easy to go too far in one direction. Do you focus on the creativity? Or do you focus on the marketability? The key is finding what you enjoy first. Creating a service or product you’d want to buy and support. Then just sharing that passion with the world. The money, the support, and the connections. Flow naturally when you can fall in love with the process of just doing what you love. Read more>>

Susan Detwiler

As an illustrator, essentially a solitary activity, I chose to freelance early in my career. Working by oneself and for oneself has its benefits, such as control of when and how work is done, which is helpful to the work/life balance, and the ability to pursue an activity that is pleasant and fulfilling. But a downside to having complete control is also having complete responsibility for my business; even though I’d love to create artwork all day, I am also obligated to keep the business going by accurate bookkeeping, promotion/advertising, contracts/fee negotiations. The business side can be outsourced to other people or by the use of software, of course, and the tools offered by sites such as Upwork, Inc. and Fiverr and Thumbtack can be helpful. But the cost/benefit ratio has to be taken into consideration for each freelancer’s business. Read more>>

Abby Heitzig + Harley Rensing

Our biggest profitability challenge has been competing with online “bridal stores.” We are seeing a lot of brides and bridesmaids go with the online option to save on costs for their dresses needed. The problem with these online stores is the quality in which the products come in is usually poor in nature. Consumers are then rushing to a brick and mortar store in a crisis and time crunch to find a quality dress! We have witnessed issues with sizing, quality, color, etc. that cannot be corrected by a seamstress. Read more>>

Dawn Adams

The biggest challenge to profitability is the public’s perception that we “play with flowers all day” and “charge ridiculous prices”. Our job begins well before we even touch a flower stem. We must do all the backend work of a regular business, attract a constant stream of new clients, conduct consultations, provide detailed proposals, beautiful mood boards, hours of communication. on-site visits, design to each client’s individual vision, order flowers with our vast knowledge of seasonality and color palette combinations. Only THEN, and only then does the REAL work begin. Sourcing from our wholesaler (additions and substitutions to our orders), vase and hard good sourcing, heavy lifting of large buckets, hours of flower processing, assembly of mechanics for individual designs, the actual floral design of each individual item which takes years of skill development and innovation to stay up with current trends, storage and hydration in large walk in coolers, constant shop clean up, transport to venue, onsite set up and design for installations such as wedding arches, elevated florals, etc., clean up on-site, returning for the strike/pick up of rental items. Read more>>

Alan Voss

As an Independent Music Artist, I think the biggest challenge to profitability is the Music Streaming Ecosystem that Independent Artists are forced to accept. Technology has advanced to the point where I could record my dog snoring and within hours upload it to a streaming service. Anyone and everyone can create music in their bedroom and upload it. Read more>>

Alexander Lee

When we are talking about construction and real estate, we hear stories about the large amounts of money that can be involved. In the decades from the early to late 20th century, it was possible to construct large numbers of homes in part because pricing was less but also regulations were less. Today most professions have some kind of licensure or some kind of protection against allowing people to perform those activities on behalf of others. (Programming remains a big exception so far). For example, you can represent yourself in court but you aren’t allowed to represent others without being a licensed lawyer. Read more>>

Wes Hartman

This is a very interesting question and something that my peers discuss off and on. There’s no easy answer, but, and this is entirely my opinion, I think the biggest challenge is our culture. What I mean by that, is that our society does not put much value on creatives, art, and creativity. Read more>>