How to Turn Your Hobby Into Your Career

Defining Your Goals

Choose a hobby you’re passionate about. If you have more than one hobby, you will have a choice of which one you turn into a career. Think about which hobby really animates and excites you. Pursue a path to professionalism in that hobby. For instance, suppose you have several hobbies such as stamp collecting, carving wooden figurines, and building model rockets. Identify your favorite hobby by making a set of sentences in the form of “I like [one of your hobbies], but I like [another hobby you prefer over the first hobby] more.” Go through your entire set of hobbies using this “hobby playoff” system, pitting each against the others until you’ve identified the hobby which most excites you. Popular hobbies that could become careers include musician, writer, actor, and artist. Technical hobbies that could become careers include ham radio operator, TV repair technician, and computer repair specialist.

Obtain some expertise. Even if you’re passionate about your hobby, sometimes you need special training to ensure you can meet your full potential when you make that hobby your career. This special training depends on what sort of hobby you’re interested in. If you’re interested in music, for instance, it might simply be an internship or apprenticeship at a record label. If your hobby is making art, you might want to take some art classes at a local art institute or university to refine your craft. If your hobby is rebuilding motorcycles, you might need to take a few classes at a technical or trade school to learn more about mechanics. On the other hand, maybe all you need to do is spend more time with friends and colleagues who are also interested in the trade in order to get some pointers and feedback on how to perfect certain techniques or trade secrets within your hobby. EXPERT TIP Adrian Klaphaak, CPCC Adrian Klaphaak, CPCC Career Coach Adrian Klaphaak is a career coach and founder of A Path That Fits, a mindfulness-based boutique career and life coaching company in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also an accredited Co-Active Professional Coach (CPCC). Klaphaak has used his training with the Coaches Training Institute, Hakomi Somatic Psychology, and Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) to help thousands of people build successful careers and live more purposeful lives. Adrian Klaphaak, CPCC Adrian Klaphaak, CPCC Career Coach Spend as much time practicing your hobby as you can. Adrian Klaphaak, the founder of A Path That Fits, says: "As you get more involved in your hobby, like taking classes and attending different events, you'll start to come across opportunities that you wouldn't have found otherwise. You can also talk to people who have built successful careers out of the hobby that you share and ask them how they did it. It might take years to build a career, but the good news is, you can keep growing your hobby as a side hustle until it starts to show signs of supporting you financially."

Consider your priorities. Turning your hobby into a career can be a rewarding experience. But the transition also means that you’ll be losing opportunities for advancement in your current career (if you have one). It also means that you won’t be able to turn to that hobby in order to relax or unwind, because it will be your job. Finally, a new hobby-based career might mean a decline in your income, and might not be appropriate if you have significant financial obligations. Keep your expectations low. Even if you head into your new career with lots of optimism and passion, it might not be as great as it first seems. You might struggle for years to get your new operation off the ground. Prepare for long hours and six or seven-day workweeks. If your career switch doesn’t work out, don’t be afraid to give up and go back to what you did before (or something else entirely). There is no shame in admitting your career switch didn’t work out.

Create a budget. Cut your spending before you make the leap. By saving money you’ll be better equipped to make up for potential shortfalls you might face as you transition your hobby into a career. Cutting down on spending will also give you a sense of what kind of lifestyle adjustments you might need to get used to when switching from one career to another. If you don’t feel like you will be able to live comfortably at your new income level, think about ways to either streamline your work process, or find another hobby you could turn into a career.

Exploring Career Options

Create products that promote or enable your hobby. For instance, if you love reading, you could create a line of T-shirts that read “I love reading” or “Books are cool.” If you love music, create a special rack to help organize your LPs better. Since you’re already an enthusiast, you should already have some idea as to what sorts of products other hobbyists would be interested in (and which they wouldn’t be interested in). Talk to friends who share your hobby and bounce ideas off of them to see if they and/or others they know would be interested in your product idea. For instance, if reading is a hobby of yours, you might ask a fellow hobbyist, “Would you be interested in a shirt that reads ‘Books are cool’? Do you think anyone else who shares our hobby would be interested in such a product?”

Help others in your hobby learn the business. If your previous or current career involved doing business – accounting, marketing, or some related field – you could use that experience to help others who are also pursuing a career in your hobby to run their own business more effectively. Or, instead of teaching them how to do it themselves, you could offer your services to someone working within your hobby field who is looking for an accountant, communications specialist, or a related professional position. In this way, you could make a living by consulting in your hobby-field. For instance, if you are a professional event planner, you could approach an up-and-coming artist and offer to help them host a gallery of their work. If you own a delivery service and your hobby is baking, you could offer to deliver cupcakes or other baked goods for a local bakery. If you are a graphic designer but you love playing music, you could shop your artistic talents to bands you love and offer to draft album art or fliers for their shows.

Write or speak about your hobby. If you have a lot of experience and information about your hobby, you may have arrived at some deep truths that others might benefit from understanding. For example, if your hobby is repair old cars, you might be able to write or speak in a compelling way about the virtues of patience, or how repairing cars taught you to consider multiple possibilities when trying to solve a problem. Others, even those who have no interest in car repair in itself, might be interested in hearing how you came to these realizations and think about how they could incorporate your insights into their own lives. One low-cost way to reach a large audience for your speaking is to create videos and post them online to a platform like Vimeo or YouTube. In addition, you might be able to write for other hobbyists who want to deepen and extend their knowledge of the hobby. Contact trade magazines and organizations associated with your hobby and inquire if they could use someone like you to write articles or present at upcoming conferences. Write to the editor of publications related to your hobby and introduce yourself. Include information about your qualifications. Ask, “Would it be possible for me to write for your publication?” If you’re interested in presenting a talk at a hobbyists’ conference, contact the organizers of the conference and provide information about your qualifications to speak. Ask the organizers, “How can I schedule a talk at the upcoming conference?”

Learn how to repair objects associated with your hobby. Many hobbies have some sort of machinery or some device associated with the hobby. For example, ham radio operators have extensive radio sets. Bikes have customizable seats, front and rear lights, and handlebars. If you know how to repair or refurbish the components of the gadgetry associated with your hobby, you could market your services in order to build a viable career. Other hobby-related devices that might need repair include computer parts, video game consoles, guitars, guitar amplifiers, and fishing rods.

Doing Business

Identify avenues for sales. There are a variety of ways to make money doing what you love. You could offer arts and crafts you’ve made online at sites like Etsy. You should also consider having a physical presence. If you’re not ready or unwilling to open an actual store, you should at least look for festivals, conventions, or expos where you could sell your services. For instance, if your hobby is photography, you might be able to set up at photography conventions and offer on-the-spot framing services. If you want to make your rock band a career, you might be able to enter a battle of the bands contest in your area. Alternately, you might be able to set up a generator at large music festivals and play for anyone interested in hearing you.

Set clear prices. Be willing to negotiate, but be honest about how much you will or will not accept for your product or service. Talk to others in your field to get some idea as to how much you think you should charge for the services in your new career. Ask others who have turned your hobby into a career how much they charged when they first began, and how much you should charge when you’re beginning. For instance, if you want to change your love of nature from a hobby into a career by offering guided nature walks, you could contact others who offer a similar service. Ask the former hobbyist, “How much did you charge for your services when you first made the jump from doing nature walks as a hobby to guiding others on nature walks as a career? How much do you think I should charge for my own service?”

Request time off work to test the feasibility of your new career. There are always a few hiccups whenever you start a new career, but you should have some idea after a week or so as to whether or not you’d be able to maintain the level of work necessary to make it in the modern economy. Use this time to see if you are able to stick to your schedule, remain self-directed and focused, and work with enough efficiency to make your new career worth it. Making a career of your hobby means producing goods or services at a higher rate than you did when it was just something you did for fun. For instance, just because you enjoy making jewelry for friends doesn’t mean you’ll be able to produce jewelry in a timely manner for multiple clients all over the country. Use the time you take off work to determine if you’ll be able to sustain yourself in new career.

Devise a business plan. A business plan is a roadmap for your success. Your business plan should include lots of research pertaining to how the current market for your future career looks. Your business plan should include a mission statement describing what your business does on a day-to-day basis, as well as a larger, more overarching vision statement that outlines your long-term goals and objectives. A comprehensive business plan will answer the following questions, among others: Is there stiff competition in the field you intend to enter? Does your business offer consumers something different or new that can’t be obtained from other similar businesses in the field? How will you fund your business? What are the milestones for your business? How much do you expect to earn in your first quarter? First year? Second, third, or fourth years?

Slowly increase commitments in your new career. After you’ve taken a week or so to get your feet wet in your potential new career, try to do it part-time for a longer period while still working your regular gig. This will give you time to perfect your wares (or services) and build a client base. You’ll also be able to iron out any kinks that might emerge in the course of developing your new career talents. After you’ve settled into a pattern, continue to increase commitment to your new career while decreasing your work-hours at your present career. EXPERT TIP "We live in an amazing time where nearly any hobby can be developed into a financially sustainable career." Adrian Klaphaak, CPCC Adrian Klaphaak, CPCC Career Coach Adrian Klaphaak is a career coach and founder of A Path That Fits, a mindfulness-based boutique career and life coaching company in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also an accredited Co-Active Professional Coach (CPCC). Klaphaak has used his training with the Coaches Training Institute, Hakomi Somatic Psychology, and Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) to help thousands of people build successful careers and live more purposeful lives. Adrian Klaphaak, CPCC Adrian Klaphaak, CPCCCareer Coach

Get the word out. Tell family and friends to support your business, and promote your work among others who might be interested. Promote yourself on social media and contract with a web developer to help you build a great website. If you have the budget for it, think about taking some ads out in the local paper or printing some fliers and hanging them around town in high-visibility locations. Depending on the career path you’ve chosen, you might want to invest more money into advertising as you grow your career. If you want to share information about your new carpentry business with family and friends, say, “I am trying to get my new business off the ground. Do you know anyone interested in my wooden products or my woodcarving services?”

Adopting Positive Work Habits

Stick to it. When you first begin turning your hobby into a career, you might feel that doing so is an unattainable dream. But a little perseverance goes a long way. Set a schedule that devotes at least some time each day to your hobby. Start by spending at least 15 minutes per day on your hobby/career. Slowly increase the amount of time you spend on your hobby until you’re devoting enough time to it (and making enough money at it) that you can settle into a regular work rhythm.

Continue to innovate. Even if you manage to turn your hobby into a career, it’s a constant struggle to keep your product or service competitive. Think about new products you can offer, new services you can provide, and new ways to improve or enhance your existing products. For instance, instead of just offering whole pizzas at your pizzeria, offer pizza by the slice, pizza with a drink and fries as a combo, or rolled-up slices of pizza. Check other local pizzerias to see what sorts of pizza products they offer – then create something even better. If the hobby you turned into a career is crafting small dolls, expand the line of dolls you have available. Try making dolls shaped like ducks, cats, pigs, and dogs. Create historical dolls from the Renaissance, or dolls dressed in the traditional garb of various nations around the world like Japan or France. Consult with your business partners frequently in order to figure out ways to keep your career afloat. Customer feedback is also invaluable for identifying new product-creation opportunities. Ask both customers and business partners, “Do you have any ideas for new products that we should think about introducing?”

Encourage feedback. As you transition your hobby into a career, solicit feedback from friends, family, and – most important of all – customers. Listen to what they think about your products and services. Find out what products or services they wish you had. Respond to their advice and suggestions by tweaking existing products and adding new ones to meet consumer demands. Ask your business partners what their views are, too. Regularly ask them, “How do you think our business is doing? Do you see any areas where we could improve? Please, speak frankly.” Listen carefully to their answers and come to a decision that you all agree with. While it’s important to respond to consumer demands and market changes, it’s also important that you stay true to yourself and your brand. Don’t try to fit your service or product into every small change in trends and styles.