I was at a convention today and sat in on a panel regarding turning your hobby into a business. The question that came up was whether this was a good idea. On the outset you might think so: a person typically has passion and much knowledge about their hobby. This passion would carry them through the tough times and help them generate the necessary impetus to make the business work.

The problem is that typically it is that same passion that gets in the way of clear thinking. Rather than develop a product or service that people want, the hobbyist turned business manager develops something they think is cool.

Another mistake is that this passion typically focuses on the make function. Remember, businesses can be broken down into three aspects: make it, sell it, and manage it. Most hobbyists are involved with the “make it”. Selling and managing is often not in their interest. While it is possible to find someone good at two of those, it is rare to find someone good at all three.

The solution of course is to find someone to partner with that compliments the hobbyist. If the hobbyist is a good maker and seller, maybe they should find someone that can help manage the company? What if that someone can help with shipping the product? What if you find another company to sell the product and you just make it and ship it? There are many possibilities but the key idea is to focus your activities on your strengths (and likes) and find alternate solutions for your weaknesses (and dislikes).

A final consideration is that a hobby by its very nature is a form of relaxation. There are no pressures to perform or earn a living; which in turn increases the enjoyment of the activity. Once this changes, and deadlines, profit margins, and customer expectations set in, the hobby may no longer be a business.

The final verdict is that turning a hobby into a business is good if it done right. Identify the aspects that you like and find solutions or other people to address those aspects you do not like. Understand that you may need a new hobby to help relieve stress. Finally, put together goals, a business plan and even test market the product to see if this is truly something that would work or something that should stay as a hobby that may earn supplemental cash flow.