You must have heard of the famous saying “If you do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. But once you start working out for some years you realize that doing what you love and making a living at it, is not easy as it sounds and it’s more than just following your heart.
If you’re planning to change your 9 to 5 job, to do a business that is based on your hobby then you need to have a plan to monetize your passion.
Start doing some research, make a short term and long term goal keeping in mind your finances and education that you have done from a good institute such as KCE, Top Mechatronics Colleges in Coimbatore.
You should be doing it in advance before going out on your own. So if you’re planning to give a resignation letter you should start planning long before.
Tips for Turning Your Hobby into a Career
1. Start Small
There could be several reasons to start earning money with your hobbies just before you think of making it a career. To make a career of your choice you should have at least a few months of expenses saved up, independent startup costs is always associated with your business so that you can make sure that you’ve at least some savings to live on while you’re getting things rolling. You can also start your business while you’re already working at your old job, which is also going to give you a better idea of an actual need for your products. You can calculate the amount of work that goes into producing it which is going to give you an idea of the work you need out to particulars of your finances down the road.
2. Make Connections
Social media is the key. It has made everything easier than it used to be. You can make your connections with like-minded people, which will help your business boom. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc., can help you meet people virtually in your business industry. You just need to be cautious as some people are going to be less than willing to offer business advice if you’re a potential competitor. Your studies would also help you a lot in the journey especially if you have passed out from a reputed institute such as KCE, Top MBA Colleges in Coimbatore.
3. Do Market Research
With the help of your social media communities and real-life connections, you can get a rough idea of how much your competitors charge for the product that you’re thinking of offering. Sometimes you can easily make out just by looking at the online marketplaces that people charge.
4. Make a Plan
Now, this might sound boring to you as it’s the least glamorous part when you start planning for a new venture but it’s very important especially if you’re planning for funding from outside sources. Even if you’re planning to start your business with your own saved money, a business plan can always help you in organizing your thoughts about your new venture and help you expose any unforeseen problems. This should be done while you are studying and gaining knowledge from Best Engineering Colleges in Coimbatore.
5. Plan Your Finances
You need to keep the calculation in your mind like how much your monthly expenses are going to be, what’s the projected income, your total startup costs which includes any new equipment that could be needed, what’s the cost of membership fees for professional associations, online marketplaces or tax preparers.
You should be aware of the taxes as you’ll be paying quarterly estimated taxes which includes the self-employed tax.
6. Get the Word Out
Use your social media accounts to get the word out. These days the internet is the best way to let people know about your business or new venture. In earlier days people had to allocate some amount of money to advertising and lead generation but now that has changed. Now you can do this part on your own by posting about your business on your social media accounts and letting people know that you’re starting a business. Just remember if you still have your day job, you need to balance both things. You can start focusing on managing multiple things right from your studying days back at KCE, the Top Colleges of Mechanical Engineering in India.
7. Reassess Your Goals
Sometimes even the planning doesn’t give the idea of reality. You won’t have the exact knowledge of running your own business until you start doing it for a while. So it’s okay if you need to make some changes in your goals to make sure you’re doing your best without stress.
Most likely it’s going to happen because with time the goals change. You might notice that you love one aspect more than the other ones and you can always balance your focus by knowing it.