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 ❤️ 

[Soccer1951]

@ Isabelle, We opened the doors to our boutique in May 2021.   We have very conservative projections but we have been hitting our numbers, we feel with the results and the enthusiasm from community we project break even by end of this year, and if we can manage the seasonal cycles well, and continue to hit our projected numbers, we expect profitability by the end of first fiscal year.  

We have not fully engaged our website and or managed our social media campaign yet, lots to learn, but we are excited that Square offers many opportunities to learn and walk us through the process... hopes this helps....

www.805highland.com , @805highland

Victor/Perla/Colleen

[PerroneTech]

I was profitable immediately. I only needed myself and the place. I never used any loans to start. I was already producing money before I even opened my store, I just decided to give myself a professional presence.

Now, if the question is "When did your company make enough for you to not have to show up every day?" That I'm still waiting for.

[Quicksilver2Go]

The big question is are you making any profit on top of the cost of your product itself as opposed to the overhead. Initially, the overhead of renting space or buying property is the unavoidable monster some of us face. If we didn't have to pay commercial rent we'd be just fine!! Most of us would be profitable immediately. 

But if we are making decent profit from the supplies and merchandise itself, we can always go mobile, co-op with others, or find cheaper rent in a good traffic area......especially after we've made a name for our product/service. 

[Havasuautoworks]

Right off the bat. And we have been growing ever since

[wildvines]

Look into the book Profit First. Game changer. Best of luck to you! 

[Dashconfab]

15 months

[HerculesRecords]

I have never operated a business in the red.  No loans.  Of course, was not rolling in profit in the beginning.  In fact, for the first 2 years, I was not much better than breaking even.  My experience owning a small business' is that you have to tough it out for 2 years.  At the 2 year mark, it is time to evaluate if it is worth moving ahead.  If at 2 years you are still struggling it may be time to throw in the towel.  However, as I am sure most here know, the first 2 years are (and should be) all-consuming.  

[HerculesRecords]

Additionally, I try to keep a minimum of 3 months' fiscal reserve or operating expenses.  It saved me during the beginning of the pandemic.  Did not lose a step.  If you operate on a shoestring things like the pandemic will knock you out of the game fast.  I also immediately moved to an online perspective in addition to the store.  It was so sad to see fellow businesses going under because they did not put aside a prudent reserve.  

[fosterjonesgrou]

It seems like forever.  However, eventhough our company has made revenue from the beginning it took us approx several years even dealing with the pandemic we were able to bounce back and working to grow

[Beautytalks]

Hello.

It took about 1 year

[PetitePaws]

I moved to Austin and started my business a couple of months later from absolute ground zero and was profitable in four months -  meaning I had covered all of my initial business start-up expenses (forming LLC, website, insurance, memberships, legal documents, contracts, etc.), was covering my monthly marketing and advertising costs, and had money left over to pay myself.  This can be attributed to a few things. 1.  First and foremost, understanding the market demand and selecting a niche market where there was substantial growth potential. 2. Understanding how to market and advertise to my potential client base. 3. Low start-up costs - around $10,000. 4. Providing personalized service to my clients and going the extra mile every day. 

[heatherlhair]

I was booked out for the first 2-3 months , than I went to steady paychecks , its been 3 years now and im  making the most I've ever made

[themaxx]

For me it was hard. I was recently released from my previous job and the last check they gave me was the only money I had in my bank account. Thank God my startup idea was pretty ahead, we already had the name, the business plan, part of the pricing and one apple MacBook computer. That was enough to start.

We officially started on 2018 and it was a long journey to be recognized and actually start selling. Our business are professional services and it is based on pure trust, at second came marketing and financial strategies. As we care enough for our clients and their needs one by one we became for many of them the first choice to handle their matters. We can say that became profitable  after a year of having started.   

The journey continues as the pandemic happened, and we had to rethink services again, all profits became unsteady and blurry again so we can say that after 4 years of operations we are still managing to be profitable. Bottomline, the actual profit for us is the trust of customers that ultimately transform into money.

Cheers!

P.S. Thanks Square, having you as payment system has really worked out.

[botanicalsnola]

Immediately. First month we grossed 41K. We are now 9 months in and anything less than 65K is slow for us. Business is amazing. We are grateful and appreciate the support we get from the community. I love my city! NOLA

[EmsIceCream]

That is really impressive. Do you have any projections as to how long it will take to recoup your initial start-up costs (shop build-out, equipment, etc)? 

Beautiful shop and awesome business/message! 

[YCBDS625]

We were profitable the first month we were in business. Then the pandemic came along... At least this month looks like we're finally on the way back up to profitability.

[graced2016]

I started in my retail business in 2016 and have yet to be "profitable" but the most important thing isn't always profit, especially when you are first starting out.

-We've relocated and increased our store square footage by 3000 sq feet

-We are consistently reinvesting in our infrastructure and increasing our inventory

-I started with one employee (myself) and now have 11, including a store manager and I never have to be onsite if I don't want to be

-We started an online store and have multiple streams in income 

Hoping that 2022 is another year of growth and (fingers-crossed) profit!

[patoche29]

in restaurant industry is usually 3 years to make a really profit

[Melmarak]

I just opened a coffee shop that sells food. I open right before the pandemic in 19 but not the whole year so I don't qualify for any help, I got land off the oil field n couldn't live off government so opened my spot with my last dime. 14 months later...not making a profit but have a crew of 7 and things are going great. I'm paying all the bills and employees just not too much myself but its only been a year! So I'm super excited but ready for some cash flow. But I know it takes time.

[wooffi]

We are going at it for a long time. Had a small retail plant nursery since 2000. Never really profitable. More like a money pit.
Started selling plants online in 2008 and tried farmers markets and arts and craft fairs. Moderately successful.
In February 2020 our last event, Covid had arrived.
Switched entirely to online plant sales. Amazon, Etsy, eBay and web site. Turned a huge curve, fall 2020 first profits.
April 2021 was our best month in our entire existence. Still increasing as of today.
Conclusion: I guess it took 21 years. The struggle is real, but it's also a lot of fun... 

[DocAnn]

8mos