Hobby To Business

It’s a dream shared by millions around the world –turning their hobby into a business; actually making money from doing what they love. It’s what journalists and authors do when they write. It’s what mechanics do when they tinker on motors and get paid for it. It’s what artists do when they draw, sculpt, or paint.


When you’re in a business that you love – it’s more like “pleasure” than “work.” The difference you’ll feel leaving “working for a living” for “doing what you love” is astounding. Imagine what the person who loves to bake feels when they bring the loaf out of the oven and smell the overwhelming aroma of fresh-baked bread, hear the customer exclaim “mmm,” and hear the cash register go ka-ching at the same time.


Tiger Woods once said, “I get to play golf for a living. What more can you ask for - getting paid for doing what you love.”


Back when I began my career, I was skeptical about being able to survive as a writer; because I’d heard so many ‘starving writer’ stories. My first job was as a secretary, but in my personal time, I wanted to research things and write books, articles, poetry, songs—anything. People were always coming to me to write their resumes and speeches, to help with their essays and reports, or to fill out their paperwork. Yet, I was actually in my 30s before I finally got around to believing that my real love and talent—writing—could become a viable career and a business.


Maybe you’re one of those people who have discovered that your hobby is expensive to maintain, and you’d like a way simply for your hobby to ‘pay for itself’. That’s the case of a man I know who loves flying his airplane, looking at all different types of airplanes, and talking about airplanes (this man has miniature airplanes on his “second” Christmas tree). After retiring from his “real” job, he merged his work with his hobby, and now he gets paid to manage the airport where he keeps his plane. Many businesses and careers have been started for that reason.


Business savvy individuals and tax attorneys may share with you a semi-guarded trade secret: You can deduct hobby losses from your main income if you can prove the hobby is a legitimate, profit-motivated business. That means you must be engaged in the activity “for profit.” If you want to go that route, you will need to set your hobby up as a legitimate business with: business cards, a separate set of books, a separate business bank account, advertising, business cards, etc.


You should also make sure to obtain all the required business licenses and permits. For those of you, who love to travel, consider how nice it would be to have your travel and entertainment expenses deducted from your taxes as a business expense. It happens every day, all around the world.


Two great resources for further information are: Home Business Tax Deductions: Keep What you Earn by Stephen Fishman, and Women Biz Mentors, where experienced business women mentor other women who want to start their own business.


You may be someone who engages in your hobby part-time and you “accidentally” made income from it. That’s how a lot of hobby businesses start too. You sold a friend some outdoor furniture you made in your hobby shop; word got around; and soon, you were making money on the weekends, just because you liked woodworking.


The guy who loves exotic sports cars may broker the sale of a few each year just to support his own “passion” for cars. Nuts for Cars, one of the businesses I write for, began because three friends were searching for car events to attend one weekend and couldn’t find anything in the local newspapers or magazines. Later on, they learned they’d missed a big car show that was near them. So they solved their problem – and in the process, created a viable business—by getting together to create an auto event club and online directory of auto events.


Could it be that Shakespeare was really enlightened when he said:
“This above all: to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”


Take a few minutes today to consider what you love to do. Do you find yourself always talking about your hobby or favorite interest? Do other people say you’re really good at a particular skill or talent? Whether you use your hobby/talent/passion as a tax shelter; use it simply to make your hobby pay for itself; or use it to make your fortune, it is worth your time to consider making your hobby a business today. Life is too short to spend it in a miserable job if you don’t have to, and you give your best to the universe when you operate within the sphere of your primary talent.