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.

Kacie Steinmetz

When the world went on lock down, everyone had to pivot on ways to entertain themselves and, more importantly, ways to maintain their health. And we all went online. in-person group fitness took a long-lasting hit. Everyone discovered ways to practice through many different types of fitness options at schedules that were convenient (because you could cue them up on demand), in a place that was comfortable, with just a few pieces of equipment (if any), at a cost that was more affordable than most gym memberships. Read more>>

Cherie Elliot

Cangaroo Cosmetic Sharpener is a patented cosmetic tool. The biggest challenge I have found is getting exposure to the beauty industry, as an entrepreneur, with a product that is completely different from the norm.

I have had great success with Cangaroo Cosmetic Sharpener when I demonstrate it, directly to the consumer, at beauty trade shows and community events.

Social media has not worked as well, because images and videos on social media do not communicate the unique functionality and features of Cangaroo Cosmetic Sharpener. Read more>>

Meg Blancato, Natalie Gill

Hands down, the biggest challenge to profitability in our industry is cost of labor and the perishable nature of flowers. Unlike traditional flower shops or big-box flower companies that use specific formulas and symmetrical, paint-by-numbers-esque design principles that are easy for almost anyone to replicate, we are training people to become floral artists. Our design training period is approximately 3-6 months, and takes a lot of hands-on guidance. We’re teaching an art form which is subjective and nuanced. Read more>>

Sarah Soegel

One recent challenge I’ve faced is the price increase of product for the little guy in the big hair world. I would say the biggest profitable services for hairdressers is hair color. However, over the years, especially since 2020, I’ve seen an increase in the prices of hair color for the hairdresser. This forces everyone to raise their prices and makes the client more hesitant to get color services. So the less hair color services you have the less profit. Read more>>

Karen Harris

Most recently, the biggest challenge to profitability as a writer is the rise of AI. I have lost long-term clients because they can generate content faster and cheaper using ChatGPT than they can by paying me or another writer to produce the content. I get that. But these clients are sacrificing quality, accuracy, and creativity when they rely on AI-generated material, as opposed to human-written content. On the plus side, I have been hired by new clients to “humanize” articles and manuscripts that were initially written by a bot. These clients, like me, notice how repetitive AI-generated content is and how the sentence and paragraph structures follow predictable patterns. There may come a time when ChatGPT can write unique, innovative, clever, and compelling works that rivals the mastery of humans, but we aren’t there yet. Read more>>