Turning a hobby into a business doesn’t have to be difficult, take a lot of time, or be a vast life-changing.
When I first started designing patterns for Naonu, I was doing so as a hobby. I was a stay at home mom with my newborn, and spend hours, between baby napping and feeding, working up my latest blanket pattern.
I had to be passionate about what I was doing if I was going to deep dive into figuring out how to make a living from my work.
How can you turn a hobby into a business?
Once you start developing and deepening your hobby, it upgrades to a passion.
From there is simple to envision your big dreams.
Now you’re ahead of the game and have an advantage over other business owners who feel ambivalent about their pursuits.
But, if you want to succeed, you’re going to have to plan and work for it.
What do you need to turn a hobby into a business
A plan
Start answering the common questions:
โข What will you sell?
โข What are your company’s values?
โข Who will you sell to?
โข Where will you sell?
โข How will you price?
โข How do you do marketing?
Then set daily micro-goals.
Sell with intention
Before you post your item for sale, let’s go back to your “who will you sell to” and dig into.
โข How will you appeal to your ideal clients?
โข How do you reach them?
โข How will you let them know that your products are perfect for them?
โข How will you tell them that they need to purchase what you’re offering?
Time managing
You may still be working full time or raising your kids, and you know time is precious.
Be intentional about where you’ll use it.
I use time-blocking and goal setting to keep myself productive and on task. My best hour to work is in the morning, between 5:30-7 am.
โข Where might you find extra time?
โข Can you wake up an hour earlier?
โข Might you be able to stay up late?
Online presence
Having an online presence is key to building your business.
Start with a Facebook page or Instagram or Pinterest. One at the time. Then add a social media strategy.
You can also build a website that is all yours.
Start your online presence small and build it up over time.
Product review
Analyze your products for quality. Make sure your products reflect well on your brand, are within the right price point, and fill a need for your customer.
Invest
As you begin to shift from a hobby to a business, you’re going to have to think about advertising, branding, and product development. All of these cost money, but they also bring a return on investment that helps your business grow.
Set a percentage of your profits for reinvestment into the business. Start big, like 50% of profits, as you grow you can reduce it to reduced to 20%.
You need to put some money into your business because it will grow and build a profitable enterprise.
You can start today. All it takes is the way you view and engage with your knitting and then act on it.