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.

Brian Pever

I say task saturation is the greatest threat to profitability. Plant nurseries are super task oriented environments. Most are time sensitive. Many require subjective analysis. Task hierarchy can change by the hour too. Yet some are predictable and systematically repeated. Read more>>

Nakeesha Tolden-Mosley

As an entrepreneur competing with other small businesses can make the tax industry very competitive. You see all of the commercials, social media ads, and posts of businesses marketing their tax preparation services. Read more>>

Kisha K. Simpson

It’s not as easy as it may seem from the outside. Let me break it down for you. One of the biggest hurdles we face is securing funding to invest in our business and increase exposure. Read more>>

Dylan Bauer

When I was first getting started in commercial photography everything about pricing felt very obscure and like there was no foundation to come up with a pricing model that worked. Read more>>

Alaina Carr

It’s common to perceive certain industries as highly profitable from the outside, but as we’ve discovered in our discussions, profitability can be a significant challenge in many sectors. Read more>>

Alicia Williams

Right now, I think the biggest challenge for me personally is the rising cost of ingredients and still making a profit. We’ve seen a huge increase in some of the everyday items we use, such as eggs and butter. Read more>>

Randall de Leon

As a photographer in Southern California, especially for weddings, the market is very saturated with a lot of other creatives and artists who cater to all the couples who are looking for vendors to complete their teams on their wedding days. Read more>>

ADINA PORTER

There are several challenges when it comes to my industry. One, there are several businesses since covid that sell all natural body products which makes it hard to stand out. Read more>>

Keith Zeiler

Pet Retail is a competitive and challenging segment to play in. Pet food makes up the majority of a store’s sales, but also yields the lowest margins. Pet food manufacturers and distributors frequently raise the sales price and cost of their products, shrinking a retailer’s profit. Read more>>

Ian Helm

The biggest challenge to profitability in freelance creative work is rampant undervaluation. Because creative work, especially good creative work, is hard to attach an objective dollar value to, it is not seen as a sound investment except by romantics, who are an endangered species anymore. Read more>>