How long did it take for your business to be profitable? 💵

[isabelle]

Hi all! Hope you're having a lovely Wednesday ⚡️

Today we're wondering...

How long did it take for your business to be profitable?

We realize this can be a sensitive topic as the journey to profitability can be challenging. If you’re comfortable sharing your experience, we’d love to hear from you ❤️ 

[ShippingBYeli]

We started in 2015 living off of savings. 6 years later it is still hard to consistently be profitable. Hoping 2022 is our year to spend less than we make each month. Just happy to be in business and not living off of savings. Cash flow is improving and the future is bright. 

[isabelle]

I wish you all the best! 💕 Thank you for sharing @ShippingBYeli ✨

[msclay69]

I started in e-commerce 2018, my online boutique sold most of the items I posted.  Platform fees and shipping eat up your profits.  

I have decided to interact with my customer base more, so I will be doing pop-up shops, and vendor booths at events.

My overhead is extremely low, I operate out of my home, buy with cash and sometimes credit (cash back cards) and I use the cash back to help pay my balance down.  

Inventory prices have really shifted by 50%, so my profit margin will not be as high, but still a profit nonetheless.   

I will flip that profit back into the business carrying only about 10-20% credit card debit.

2022 is almost gone, so I shall see what 2023 holds out for Epitah'me Boutique. 

I appreciate everyone sharing their journey, we can learn from each other! 

"Keep shining and keep grinding!" 

[BeadBarBoss]

Thank you for sharing and I certainly wish you the best.  It is so helpful to have a community that shares the same journey!

[aarontw]

@BeadBarBoss - Reading this comment made my day, thank you for being a part of the Community!

[Vyolet]

Hello ShippingBYeli,

Hoping that you all are doing well,  glad to hear that you're not living off of your savings and I'm praying and wishing you all they very best for the coming years and much success!

[handymanforyou]

is it because of covid?

[sshawaii]

Fortunately, immediately.  

[LaBicyclette]

Same for us

[SensationalSeaA]

What does your business do?

[DJEmir]

It took understanding that rates had to go up, that we should compete on quality and a higher level of service rather than trying to compete on price alone. - www.djemir.com

[Velda_j]

That's great advice!  We are two years end and our overhead is high.  We keep our prices below what the customer could find online, but you're right ... we provide exemplary service and invest a lot of our time doing it.  We believe in quality in product and service. It's time we started basing our prices on that.

[WBDPS]

I've long fretted about competing with the online prints shops (and there are so many).  I've kept my prices in line with those shops out of fear people would chose going online vs. using us even though we have a slate of regular customers who keep us very busy and love the work my staff does. 

It took me way too long to realize that there are a lot of people who do not feel comfortable creating items on those online sites - I was speaking to a customer who told me she is not comfortable on computers anyway and the thought of trying to design something herself is just not something she was going to entertain.  It took that interaction for it to finally click - they trust us, like what we do, and are happy to let us take care of it 100%.

So we've been restructuring our prices - partly due to rising materials cost but also because we have a service our customers value, appreciate and have zero qualms about paying a little more vs. the online guys.

But to answer the question - ours is a family business my parents started.  They didn't draw a salary for about five years to start.  They always made sure the staff and bills were paid. And there were times that they would have to hold their paychecks back until there was enough money to cash them.  I'm running things now and there have been great years and awful years. Somehow we've managed to keep going. Whether it's good times or bad times, it's always exhausting LOL

[angienoyes]

Such an inspiring story!! I'm in the same business and I absolutely feel the same way. Our customers trust us to design, and make something awesome from them. We cultivate a relationship and you can't get that online. Thanks for sharing!!

[msclay69]

I find that a lot of people are label and name chasers and the quality can be very subpar.  

Pride yourself on quality...the quantity will come...and NEVER lower your worth to compete with the masses.

[clearlythebest]

Great point and good advice.

[recordroom]

Too long!

[HC_Charlie]

Almooooost, but not quite yet. Been 5 years now so I hope next year is when things will really start to turn around! Most everything has been put back into the business for inventory and growth. I probably could have been profitable sooner, but at the risk of turning away potential customers if I didn't have a full inventory to keep them shopping and coming back. I also started wholesaling some of our in-house made products so I think that will make a big difference to our profitability this and next year.

[baconcook]

Opened in 2019, still waiting for consistent customers and staff. Profit would be nice.

[Minion]

Started in 2015 doing plastic resin casting for vehicle headlight modification. Was on our way to turn a profit in 2017 until we had a structure fire. Some changes to the business and operation we started to turn a profit in 2019. 

This year I began cutting some costs on certain things not needed, ($50/month here or there adds up over a year).

Shipping costs of materials are always going up, so buying in bulk has been a big priority this year saving about $2k in shipping costs alone compared to last year.