thread Re: How long did it take for your business to be profitable? 💵 in Community Corner

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

isabelle — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:53:44 GMT

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 ❤️

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

ShippingBYeli — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:10:24 GMT

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.

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

sshawaii — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:13:33 GMT

Fortunately, immediately.

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

isabelle — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:15:56 GMT

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

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

DJEmir — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 21:53:52 GMT

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

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

Velda_j — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 22:46:37 GMT

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.

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

recordroom — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 23:00:41 GMT

Too long!

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

HC_Charlie — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 00:32:09 GMT

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.

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

baconcook — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 00:40:20 GMT

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

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

Minion — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 01:13:20 GMT

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.

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

cherrycreeklure — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 01:16:42 GMT

Well i just got started online sales 2 months ago I'm still working on improving marketing and my web page so it really needs more time to be able to tell you that.

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

Alwayzblessed_2 — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 01:19:21 GMT

Business from the ground up can take alot if grind to build. Considering the type of business, the market, location, convenience amongst other factors contribute to your result. I personally provide a variety of services and one in particular a niche that is in high demand. My clientele was built prior to self employment and did not lag even during the transition from Corporate America. I send prosperous energy you alls way.

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

EDUARDOMTZ4411 — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 02:38:28 GMT

WHEN AM I GETTING MY LLC LICENCE

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

Kingofclean1 — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 03:24:11 GMT

Me and My son started our own Carpet Cleaning Company and We were blessed with the Knowledge of Know how to Market Any small business online with a great marketing plan and Plenty of late nights and long days . Not to mention constantly waking up from falling asleep on my MacBook Pro and having keys embedded on my cheek 😂 but seriously 😳 we had taken some small business marketing get rich quick courses and finally found one that actually delivered on everything it promised from showing you how to becoming number 1 on Google to making 20000 in profit your first month in business the Teacher of the course swore on everything he loved dear that if we followed exactly what he says to do in the order he said to do it we would be Writing him thank you emails in no time . My thoughts on that were as Follows yea right but… He actually came through the only problem was we could not find a case study to show to our perspective clients well after 2 months of pulling our hair out we said screw it we will start our own business 👨‍💼 and show potential clients our case study from us starting Terry Media to us paying a youtuber for his Carpet cleaning Course . You ask why did you choose carpet cleaning let me Guess you had plenty of experience Actually not at all we choose carpet cleaning because neither of us had ever cleaned carpets a day in our lives we just wanted to show other small businesses that it did not mater the nich or how much knowledge we had in the niche of choice that’s why we picked carpet cleaning. I bet your saying man that’s messed up you knew nothing about carpet cleaning and you charged people to clean there carpets yes but not until we got our Certificates from passing the carpet cleaning course witch actually did teach us a lot about carpet cleaning plus the Teacher gave us a all access pass to his inbox and cellphone with any questions he’ll he was interested in seeing how it turned out for us as he runs his own carpet cleaning company and figured if we knew nothing about carpet cleaning and could make more then he does and he owns his own carpet cleaning business for 10 yrs with over 20 yrs experience in the field he promised if it worked he would be our first client you can imagine the excitement from us we said ok cool on the inside we were jumping up and down screaming woohooo! But that’s here nor there back to the topic at hand so we launched our business with our website and the journey began week one we cleared 3500 week 2 we made 7000 and week 3 and 4 the exact same we cleared 25000 the first month well you can imagine what the teacher said sign me up but by then we realized how much money we could make if in 2 yrs we were still open and the numbers have only increased with every month that goes by we have been in business since April 2021 and by June we were making 50000 a month 😮 I promise you this is not a sales pitch so much not a sales pitch that I’m not leaving any contact info on this post but just wanted to add a really cool inspirational story for all the entrepreneurs and people who are thinking about possibly starting your own business 👨‍💼 don’t listen to the pre programing we are taught one before we start our first job and that’s we are workers and only lucky people are successful in business I was always asked growing up what I wanted to be when I grow up and you know what every time I picked some Career or job can you guess what it was ? How about this can you guess what it wasn’t never not once can I recal saying I want to be a business owner I always picked a job or career working for someone else even when I was a doctor I never dreamed of running my own practice as much as I saw myself working for a hospital sorry if I’m off topic I just want this story to inspire someone to follow there dreams we did and now we run a business that will easily clear 1,000,000 dollars next yr. follow your dreams!!! It will work if you are determined to make it work but you can’t think that it’s easy to start a small business and work a 9to 5 only concentrating on your business when you have the time and thinking that you are going to strike it rich 🤑 hey I guess anything is possible but it’s not very likely you will absolutely have to be committed night and day to playing catch up on all the things there are to learn it’s been one hell of a great ride for us and I wouldn’t trade one second of it for anything that’s a fact god bless have a blessed 😇 night . Sorry for the rant and lack of punctuation don’t have time to go bk and fix it just wanted to comment on this topic .

PS we never started Terry Media back up we still clean carpets till this very day !!

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

corvette2012 — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 03:18:55 GMT

2 years

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

TheClean-UpCrew — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 04:28:20 GMT

I guess I had beginners luck to start making a profit within a couple of months. I should add I have no experience starting a business, I barely got my GED, and only started a business because I couldnt get a job so I just started a company and now needing to actually give people jobs. So if I can do it, I know you all can find a way to start making a profit.

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

allenalston21 — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 05:31:53 GMT

Not long

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

clearlythebest — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 05:49:05 GMT

Great point and good advice.

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

Sam_400º — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 10:03:38 GMT

I’ll let you know when it happens!

how long did it take for Square? I’m sure I read loads of news reports about loosing money as ‘the disrupter’ & extra rounds of funding in the early years.

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

Donnie-M — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 11:26:44 GMT

My business became profitable as soon as I quit using "hope" as a strategy. "Hope is a strategy, just not a very good one."

When I sat down and really did the profit and loss, looked at what I was selling and understood the cost, looked at labor and what I was spending, and knew my numbers: this is when I actually made decisions to be profitable.

I think we all have that idea we don't want to let go of, because we "think" it makes money, but financially it doesn't. I'll give the best example: gluten free. I have had customers ask me for this over the years. I would get in some gluten free bread/bun and do a half/witted marketing of it. They don't sell and then I am stuck with them. The same people that sometimes clamor for stuff, don't always materialize, they are however very vocal to you the boss.

So make good decisions backed by sales numbers, which as a plug for square helps me alot when I analyze what I am actually selling versus not selling. If the sales aren't there, are you really promoting the item properly, are you executing the item properly.

Donnie-M