How to turn your hobby into your job

Hobbies: they are generally something you enjoy, love and are good at. All of these things can be a recipe for a potential fun job, career or something best kept as a pastime. If you are thinking about turning your hobby into a job it’s important to think about the realities and practicalities of making it work.

Should I make my hobby my work?

Things to consider

• Could your job/hobby be a full-time career or something you could profit from on the side?
• Is there a customer base for your product/service?
• Is it feasible to finance this without an income or should you only pursue it as a job on the weekends/evening?
• Do you have a business model? And could it create a profit?
• Do you need training/help in the marketing and selling of your product/service?
• Are you ready to start looking after your own finances?

The Pros

• Having a passion for your hobby/job will make it feel less like work because you’re enjoying it
• You could be your own boss which means lots of flexibility and freedom
• You get to do what you love and love what you do
• With Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, it’s easier to build up a customer base without having to spend a lot of money

The Cons

• It can take a lot of time before you can make a steady income or profit from being self-employed
• It might be difficult to get financial backing for your ideas
• Some hobbies don’t always translate into good jobs
• The stress and pressure to meet customer demands might take the joy out of the job for you

Most important of all, make sure it’s all above board. Strict regulations and tax considerations are issues that you have to take into consideration when starting a business- flogging a service or product without notifying the tax man can land you in hot water!

Resources for anyone who’s considering going it alone with their new business idea:

• Citizen’s Information website
• Enterprise Ireland 
• Startups.ie
• Business-Startup.ie

Need more information?

We are here to answer your questions and talk through your options. Our online chat service is for 16 to 25 year olds and is available Monday to Friday, 4pm to 8pm. Chat to us now about your situation.

• Chat now to a trained Youth Information Officer
• Or leave us a message and we will email you back