Today, I came across a word that I had not seen before. I was browsing the web, looking for interesting things to read, when I came across an article about “hobbypreneurs”. A hobbypreneur is exactly what you would think from looking at the word – a person who has turned their hobby into a full time or part time business. Hobbypreneurs are sometimes referred to as “makers”, because that is what they do. They customize, adapt, create, and experiment with all kinds of things.
Many hobbypreneurs are innovators who have found novel ways to use technology and have created interesting products, some of which are practical and others that are fanciful. Others are artisans and crafters that have discovered a way to sell their wares far beyond their local markets with the help of the internet. There are even “green” hobbypreneurs that have found clever ways to reuse items or have developed new products that help themselves and the people that buy them to ecologically conscious lifestyle.
It is not necessary to make the great leap from hobbyist to full-time small business owner overnight. Most hobbypreneurs started out by simply doing what they enjoyed as a hobby. Over time, the hobbies evolved into small, part-time businesses either as a result of the hobbypreneurs own initiative – test-marketing their goods and services on a small level, or as a result of others inquiring whether their unique creations were available for sale. Some hobbypreneurs choose to keep their businesses small and use them to generate additional income on the side. Others choose to transition out of the workplace and turn the business that they started as a part-time outgrowth of their hobby into their full time occupation.
With unemployment still high and the demand for unique, innovative products and services on the rise, it is a good time to think about your hobbies and whether any of them are something that you might like to pursue as a business. You may be surprised by what you discover.