Hobby Turned Business

Labor Day.  What did you do on this holiday?  Some people worked.  Some spent time with their families and friends to celebrate the last weekend of Summer.  The day for me was filled with a blend of preparing for back-to-school, time with family, and reflection; reflection of what Labor Day means with recent awareness and conversations; primarily asking the questions: Is your job a job or is it something you love to do?  Is there something you love to do that you wish could turn into a business?

Reading articles about employee satisfaction and engagement, job satisfaction, and social media postings about people’s thoughts about their jobs often times the revealed information is that most people find a job just a job and not very fulfilling. Which means that most people aren’t really doing what they want to do or enjoy doing.  Of course, there are many reasons why, however, there’s always another way to do things.

Ask people about their hobbies and they’ll share interests from custom making bbq sauces, competitive bbq cooking, canning, custom auto-motorcycle painting, woodworking, cake decorating, knitting, singing, photography, fashion blogging…the lists go on.  The one consistent factor about all of these conversations is how the person’s tone of voice and excitement levels increase when talking about their hobbies. Their enjoyment of loving the hobby is very apparent as they talk at lengths about their loved interest.  So, here’s my question:  Can you turn your hobby into a business?

Now before you say “ah, yeah – no!” let’s think about some known people who did turn their hobby into a business.  The first person that comes to mind is the late Paul Newman with Newman’s Own salad dressings and other food items.  The story of how his hobby-turned-business is well known and an example of making a love of labor into a reality.

Another hobby-turned-business is Mrs. Field’s Cookies.  The story of Debbi Fields is inspiring to those with a skill they love to do and wish it could transform into a business.

Now while both of these examples are related to food many people posses a skill that’s their hobby which they love to do!

In these days of uncertainty, what skills or hobbies do you have?  Is there something that you love to do and wonder how to turn it into a business?  Think about it.  If the answer is yes, then learn from those who’ve done it!  Read up on their stories, learn from their successes/mistakes and put together a plan.  Who knows, the next inspiring hobby-turned-business story could be yours!

All the best,

Deb