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.

Rachael Holmes

I think the service industry in general is one that is hard to get in that rhythm of being profitable. Between finding the right team members, the economy, staying relevant on social media and finding the right customers for you… its a battle everyday. For me, two of the largest factors are finding and keeping the right team members and pricing our worth. One of my favorite quotes is by Richard Branson, “Train people well enough that they can leave and treat them well enough that they won’t want to”. Read more>>

Sandra Charlap

Finding ways to help my audience recognize that art is a career choice much the same as law or finance and the myriad of professional choices people make. I am certainly fortunate and maintain tremendous gratitude for the trajectory my art career has taken the past few years. Read more>>

Meribeth Strickland

Photography is an industry that is undervalued and underestimated at times. There are individuals out there that believe Photography is just pressing a button. However, it is so much more. It is an art form that we spend time trying to master. Because people do not fully know all the behind the scenes work photographers do, many people assume that the prices being advertised are inflated. Read more>>

Alan Cook

Writing for publication is a winner-take-all business. A person who writes books (fiction or nonfiction), articles, stories, or poetry, without the comfort of a salary or a contract, and attempts to sell the result, is competing against a multitude of other writers doing the same thing. Read more>>

Melissa Maurer

Starting a business of any kind is always a challenge. For me, trusting my own judgement when it came to purchasing the product I would carry, was my biggest hurdle. I’ve been a buyer for a furniture store where I did Interior Design, but I had a more specific clientel which made it a little easier. Knowing what will sell in a very ” tourist” town requires appealing not to just the locals, but people visiting from all over. Read more>>

Amanda Stieff

The biggest obstacle I have faced is social media and advertising has a huge influence on if your book will be successful, or even seen. So this really comes down to if you have the financial backing to pay for advertisements (usually through other influencers on platforms) or you have a large social media following of your own. Unfortunately, being a teacher and a mom, I have not had the extra money to invest in making my dream come true. Read more>>

Bradley Lum

The biggest challenge to profitability in the restaurant industry is labor. Many restaurant managers do not know how to manage their labor correctly and that is because there are so many moving parts. Read more>>

Lisa Weaver

There are a few major challenges to achieving consistent profitability when looking at the handmade, home goods sector. Product and labor costs, production consistency and market infrastructure are three things that readily come to mind. Read more>>

Orlando Lima

There are two major barriers to profitability in the spirits industry: raising capital and a lack of collaboration among small businesses. The first, raising capital, is simple. The current economic uncertainty, means most investors have limited tolerance for risk. Unless your pitch documents are perfect, most will decline to invest. Read more>>

B.P. Edwards

Its easy to look at the entertainment industry and see dollar signs, and to be completely honest the Film & TV sector of entertainment is in open season for Black filmmakers. We are truly in the renaissance of Black talent for both above and below the line creatives. The challenge in this is the existence of gatekeeping in the industry. Many people do not believe in spreading opportunity throughout the community, so it becomes challenging to break into the spotlight. Read more>>

Andrea & Mud

Streaming is definitely the biggest challenge for indie bands right now. Artists have to make their music streamable because it’s how the majority of people listen but it’s proven to be [almost] impossible to make a profit. We all know about how Spotify treats artists and how they only let us have a fraction of a cent for streams. It’s arguably the biggest topic in the music industry currently. The only thing that would help is boycotting those services but most bands aren’t in a position to do that. It’s really a catch 22. We need bigger artists to stand up and make a difference for the whole industry. Read more>>