Everyone hopes to find a job or career that they love. For some people that might mean turning a much-loved hobby into a financially viable business. Although many people may dream of doing so, those with a concrete action plan and focused dedication will be the ones who can successfully turn their dream into a reality.
Evaluate Your Life First
The reality is that there are a limited number of hours each day and a finite amount of mental and physical energy available. Take a hard look at your current life situation and evaluate what you have to do and what you’d be willing to give up to embark on a hobby-focused career.
For example, if you’re struggling to make ends meet and have young children, this may not be the right time to add something else to your plate. However, if you have substantial savings and are willing to give up some of your current free time activities to pour energy into a career change, now might be the perfect time.
Establish Goals and a Plan
Nothing gets done without a detailed plan with measurable goals and deadlines. If creating a hobby-based career is a longer-term plan, you may want to increase savings and curb spending so you can move your full-time job into a part-time position in order to invest the time to start a business within the next year or two.
If you’re ready now, start putting together product and service plans and ideas as well as begin researching customers and the need for what you want to do or produce. Research details like price points and consider your costs both in terms of time and raw materials. Set your financial goals per week, per month or per year, and establish other benchmarks such as how many orders you hope to generate within a set timeframe.
Network and Publicize
Once you’ve determined that a market exists for your hobby-based business, start developing yourself as an expert in the area. Go to local events where you can meet with potential customers, business partners or influencers, and join some online communities where you can participate in relevant discussions and offer advice and assistance.
Change Your Mental Attitude
Once you’ve made the jump from hobby to business, make sure you make the mental leap as well. When your activity was simply a hobby, you may have worked on it when you felt like doing so. Now that it’s your job, treat it as such. Set aside a certain amount of time or a specific production goal each day or week to ensure that you are treating it as a business.
Turn to our public relations agency Las Vegas for some marketing help in launching your hobby-based business. GYC Vegas is a marketing agency Las Vegas that has helped many entrepreneurs just like yourself launch their new startup.