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.

Maria Cardillo

I believe the biggest challenge to profitability in my industry is an overall lack of value in the time and effort it takes to create something. For example, as a photographer, I am providing someone with a service they can see. What the client doesn’t see is the work behind the scenes before receiving the result. Read more>>

Jake Voorhees

Introduction The focus for this conversation is profitability challenges faced by creative entrepreneurs, including artists, designers, content creators, camera professionals, etc. I’ve been working with more creative professionals, curating events for these folks, and will soon be running more support programming for creatives all year. Read more>>

Magali Henry

Our business is an artisan French bakery. We make croissants and other viennoiseries from scratch, and bake fresh batches every day. The biggest challenge to profitability in our industry is the industrialization of baked goods. The French association of artisan bakers estimates that about 80% of bakeries in France do not make their own viennoiseries, but instead bakes industrially made, frozen products, often unbeknownst to their customers. Read more>>

David Hakamaki

The photography industry has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Before the digital revolution, most people had to go to a professional photographer to get quality portraits. When they got photos with a photographer, or when they took photographs themselves with their personal film camera, people regularly had photographic prints made. Read more>>

John Gordon

One of the biggest challenges to profitability in the video production industry is without a doubt, bandwidth. That’s your personal bandwidth, your available hours in the day, and the workload you can realistically uphold. This is also relevant to your external partners and contractors, who need the time and space to not only perform the work, but perform the work with space for creativity. Read more>>

Yolanda Rhodes

Catering and events companies face various challenges in maintaining profitability. One significant hurdle is fluctuating demand, as the industry is highly influenced by seasonal trends and economic conditions. Managing operational costs, including staffing, ingredients, and equipment, poses another difficulty. Read more>>

Tara Steele

From the outside looking in, becoming a stylist seems to come with all of the glitz and glam! In some cases this is true! Our industry is so fun, full of amazing artist, with such creative minds! Often times I believe the consumer gets the impression that the stylists have little to no overhead and “keep all their money”! Read more>>

Chaymeriyia Moncrief

Being the founder of a prepaid wireless carrier in such a picky space where just 3 carriers dominate the industry can be a ruthless process. Read more>>

Paul McFall

Most solopreneurs starting off in creative industries have a hard time coming up with the funding and available time needed to develop a successful business. In terms of finance, they are more likely to bootstrap and acquire majority of their equipment and support using funds from a full-time job and available credit. Read more>>