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.

Jennifer Yeo

The biggest challenge to the Real Estate Brokerage model is that all of the agents that produce income for the company can easily be recruited away with one simple sales pitch. It is a very transient business and you can have agents come and go constantly. Your cost per independent contractor can be extensive and could easily be a loss if you cannot retain agents. The other side of that is that the average agent closes 3-5 transactions a year. That makes it a numbers game to recruit, retain and to develop agents into producers. Read more>>

Heather Manley

A small, woman-owned, self-funded craft distillery faces numerous challenges when competing in an industry dominated by large, well-funded corporations. These challenges span financial, regulatory, market access, branding, and operational aspects. Below are some key hurdles and how we navigate through them:
1. Financial Constraints
• High Initial Investment: Distilling requires expensive equipment, ingredients, and aging facilities, which can be difficult to finance without external investors. Read more>>

Christine Walker

I consider my business to be a part of the Fiber industry. Within this industry and within any industry that involves anything created by hand, everything is costly. With regards to the retreats that I host, we are in a particularly bad time for travel. Costs have gone up for literally everything. I have tried to keep my fees relatively stable as the cost of doing business has gotten higher. My goal is to keep prices lower to keep the trips more accessible. I try whenever possible to support local businesses and artisans when planning trips. Read more>>

Valen Elaine

As a small business owner who handcrafts all my own products, the biggest challenge to profitability is scalability. When you’re making everything yourself, there’s only so much you can produce in a day, and your time is directly tied to your income. Unlike mass produced goods, where you can increase production with automation, handmade businesses are limited by the creator’s time, energy, and resources. Read more>>

Cara Pinder

The profit margin for independent authors, even those who hire a professional editor, illustrator, and marketing team, is quite small. There are various income opportunities available, such as blogging, publishing on Kindle, and selling IngramSpark copies to libraries and bookstores worldwide. Author copies can also be quite profitable if you are willing to put in the effort to attend multiple book signings. However, even with these opportunities, the overhead costs often outweigh the potential income. Read more>>