Hobby as a Business Model - Yes or No?
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| Photo by Josefa nDiaz on Unsplash |
Among other things, I've often toyed with the idea of using one or the other hobby of mine to earn money with a suitable website.
In the following, you will find out what advantages and disadvantages there can be in turning your hobby into a business model.
Among other things, I describe my own experiences.
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| Hobby as a Business Model - Yes or No? |
Hobby as a Business Model?
It sounds so simple. You just take your hobby and earn money with it.
After all, you engage in the hobby voluntarily and it's fun. Many people dream of earning money with it.
And many put it into practice. You just have to look at the many YouTube and Twitch stars who use their computer games hobby to earn money.
You no longer play for yourself, but record everything and put it on a video platform or stream it live.
But many other hobbies are also turned into their own business by blogging about them, opening a shop, creating a niche website, or the like.
Free Time vs Work
But here you should think carefully about whether this is such a good idea. A hobby is of course something that you have a lot of passion for, a topic that you are very interested in. So in itself ideal business conditions.
But a hobby also has something to do with switching off, with relaxation, and with not having to worry about money and other business aspects. For example, if you turn your hobby into an affiliate website *, the hobby loses its private character and becomes a business model, albeit one in which you are very interested.
The result is often that you get to feel the negative sides of online business, that making money is important and that you don't just deal with the topic to relax and when you feel like it.
This can lead to the fact that you lose the fun of it and that this step spoils a hobby in the long run.
My Experiences
As I said, I have often toyed with the idea of using a hobby for a business website.
I have a lot of hobbies including series, movies, music, sports, video games, board games, and a lot more. This results in many starting points for affiliate websites, for example. Nevertheless, I have always decided against turning a pure hobby into a business model.
Over the years I have come to appreciate having free time. At the beginning of my self-employment, I had very little of it. But over time my health suffered and I actively freed myself up again. During this time I devoted myself to my hobbies and learned to appreciate this balance very much.
I have found this particularly positive since I moved into my new external office. Now I can come home and switch off from work.
If I were to use one of my hobbies for business, I would have concerns about a proper separation. I also fear that I could ruin the fun of the hobby.
Simple and Easy?
Another reason why one should think carefully about the hobby as a business model is false expectations.
Anyone who likes to gamble on the console in their free time imagines life as a YouTuber in the same way, only that money is still being made. But this is usually not the case.
Instead, it becomes work and you sometimes have to force yourself to do something. It makes a huge difference whether you do something voluntarily or not. In addition, there are so many business tasks to do around it that are not all fun.
In addition, you will usually have to work overtime to earn a living, so that you will hardly have time for the hobby itself (or for others).
Unfortunately, many aspiring self-employed people approach the matter with wrong ideas and myths and then experience a rude awakening.
Free Time is Important
For the health of the self-employed, free time is very important, even if you don't notice it in the beginning.
But you should pay attention to a separation of work and private life and also really leave hobbies to be hobbies.
When you leave the office, it is important to clear your head and hobbies are very good for that.
Conclusion
While one should show interest and passion for a business model or a business idea, hobbies are often not the ideal basis for business implementation.
If you want to do this, you should weigh up the advantages and disadvantages carefully and get started on a test basis.
Your Opinion
Surely many of you have already thought about using a hobby for business. And some will have already.
How have your experiences been?
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