How to turn a hobby into a business

Oise Trade company

At the beginning, you have to decide how you want to make money. For example

Create and sell your own products;
Set up a production facility;
Give practical courses or master classes;
Create training videos.

Before you take the first steps in setting up a business, you need to understand where you can make the most profit. It is not a fact that the most obvious option will make more money. Familiarise yourself with the different niches you could enter and make the best choice.

For example, you have decided to create an exclusive wood decor. Study this market, find out if anyone needs such a product, at what price they buy it, what sizes, colours and formats are popular with buyers. This will help you paint a realistic picture and determine if monetising the hobby is even possible.

It's important to understand how you are better than other crafters doing the same thing. What sets you apart from the competition? Find your 'thing' and create a unique selling point. Think about your brand positioning. Perhaps your main differentiator will be unique materials. Or maybe you will create a limited edition range of figurines with unusual shapes. You need to be different - then the chances of success are greater.

Of course, it is necessary to draw up a business plan. Without a business plan, your idea of turning a hobby into a business will fail. Then you have to deal with advertising, promotion, logistics, delivery and much more... The process of turning a hobby into a business can kill the hobby itself.

Many people have hobbies. Some cook delicious and original dishes, some make beautiful jewellery, some make beautiful bouquets, and so on. People have invented thousands of different types of hobbies. Some of them sooner or later decide to turn their hobby into a business. Agreed, it is nice to do the work that brings you joy and pleasure and earn money at the same time. But this is not possible for everyone. Anyone who tries to turn a hobby into a business will stumble over fear. But you have to overcome it, believe in yourself and go for it. In the Oise Trade Limited blog, we looked at the steps you need to take to turn a hobby into a business.

Useful tips from Oise Trade

If you used to enjoy the process of creating your products, you will no longer have the time to enjoy it. You will be pressed by deadlines, commitments, schedules. If you don't fulfil orders on time, you'll lose customers. And if you try to do it all yourself, you risk losing your health.

What's more, you won't be able to just scroll through your social media feed and see what others are up to. Advertising posts, useful content, promotional strategy, communicating with customers - this is what you will now be doing on social networks.

If the business develops and expands successfully, sooner or later there will come a time when you have to decide whether to delegate some responsibilities or continue to do everything yourself. Once you have reached the management level, you will have to learn everything all over again. Now your tasks will be completely unrelated to your hobbies: you will be counting income and expenses, planning the budget, looking for customers and much more. If you don't want to manage, leave yourself a creative role. And for management, hire a manager.

To sum up. Turning a hobby into a business is a complicated process. You need to be diligent, persistent and patient, learn new things and work hard. Of course, not everyone will be able to go all the way and achieve the goal. The dropshipping specialists at Oise Trade can advise you on setting up your business, market research, etc. Contact us!

A hobby can die