While people are out of a job during the coronavirus pandemic, many people are turning to alternative ways of making money and that includes turning your hobby into something that can one day help pay the bills. Though many may mistakenly think of this idealistic, experts testify that trying this can save you from being on fiscal life support. As Martha Steward always says, when life throws lemons at you, make lemonade! So let’s show you how you can turn your passion into a money-making machine:
- Identify Your Passion: There are many things that you might have passion in doing that you could turn into a small business that can either completely replace your income (if it is profitable enough) or supplement the salary you get from your full-time job. It could be something as simple as baking cakes or cooking to something as difficult as computer programming. If you have musical talent, you could start a band and if you enjoy teaching, you could start a small private tutor center. The options are endless!
- Study the Market: It’s important to understand what your local market needs are because if your passion or hobby is not something that you can turn into a viable product or service, then it is meaningless to turn it into a business (at least not unless you do not plan to make a lot of money off of it).
- Create Your Business & Marketing Plan: It’s important to write up a solid business plan with a timeline of what your expected progress should be. This business plan should include your short-term and long-term objectives. Most importantly, it needs to include a plan how you plan to promote your product or service. The amount of money, time, and effort that you would have to spend on marketing depends on the nature of the product and service that you offer. Therefore, you should come up with a promotional plan based on the habits and consumer behavior of your local market. It may also be a good idea if you try to create a presentation to attract potential investors to your project.
- Don’t Forget Finances: Financial planning is also a very important part of this process. You need to be selective as to where to invest your financial resources to ensure that they serve the objectives of your project. The main components of any financial plan should include: (a) the profit & loss statement, (b) the cash flow statement, (c) balance sheet, (d) sales forecast, (d) break-even analysis. It’s important to ensure that your credit is in good standing as well.
- Track Your Progress: Have a weekly meeting with your staff (or if you’re alone then with yourself) and ask yourself if the effort you are putting into the business is making any significant gains. If you are losing more money than necessary, it may be a good idea to put the project on hold until you recover from those losses.
- Have A Backup Plan: Whatever you do, do not sink into financial ruin by spending too much from your credit card on this business because if your business fails, then you will not only have to deal with the hardship of failure, but the constant harassing calls of debt collectors. Proceed with caution and remember that this is an initiative that is meant to empower you, not to cripple you with debt.
