Guest post submitted by: Julie Morris

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What’s common between Craig Newmark, Kevin Plank, and Walt Disney? As the Insider can tell you, they were all hobbyists who turned their passion into multimillion dollar business empires. If you have a hobby you pursue in your spare time  – whether that’s knitting, crocheting or quilting – you could potentially turn it into a viable business yourself. The Knitting Times offers some practical pointers on how you could go about doing so below: 

Are you ready to be a business owner? 

Before you get started, The Simplifiers notes that you should ask yourself if you’re ready to be a business owner. It requires time, commitment, and often many sacrifices. You will have to please clients, market yourself, and keep records, among many other things. Furthermore, you may not derive as much enjoyment from your hobby as before. 

Make your hobby a side hustle first 

Instead of going all in with a full-fledged knitting-related business, you could test out your hobby business as a side hustle first. This would give you time to get your feet wet, make the switch to a “turning a profit” mindset, and make mistakes without the stakes being too high. Also, you don’t have to risk your primary income source (your current job) until you start making some real money. 

Write a business plan 

Writing a business plan will help you get serious about your idea and, more importantly, understand what you need to do to create a successful business. Business News Daily points out that when making a business plan, you’ll want to consider aspects  like ideal customers, market conditions, money-making strategies, your products (or services), and customer care. A business plan can also be used to secure a business loan or woo investors. 

Source funding 

As with starting any business, sourcing funding for your start-up costs is important. These funds will cover everything from materials to software needed to help run your enterprise. You may take out a business loan if necessary, which will require you to have a clear picture of your credit report. Your credit rating, after all, will play a large role in whether a lender will approve a loan. You can check your credit score by downloading a free report at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Try an ecommerce approach

Opening an ecommerce store can be a great way to capitalize on your passion. An ecommerce store allows for maximum accessibility and visibility of your products, since all ordering is done online and customers can shop from anywhere in the world. Additionally, with minimal overhead costs, you can affordably launch a small business without having to go through the complexities of opening a physical store. Look for a platform that allows you to easily build your online store as well as manage payment, track inventory and update pages as needed. 

Market yourself in various ways 

You will need to market yourself to attract clients, customers, investors, and even employees. Good marketing will make you memorable and help build lasting relationships. Some suggestions are making a business website, getting on social media, sharing examples of your work, joining groups in your niche, putting up business listings, writing a blog, and advertising yourself in various ways. 

Work with professionals to build up your business 

Professionals, in various capacities, can be invaluable assets. The ones in your niche can help you build up key skills and troubleshoot problems. Other professionals like marketers and business mentors can help you build up a successful business. Apps and technology make finding and working with professionals easier. 

For instance, if you’re communicating with a graphic designer about design ideas and you have a large PDF file with many images, then you can utilize a free PDF editor tool to add text, sticky notes, highlights, drawings, and more to said PDFs. This allows you to easily specify any suggestions or changes you might need without having to send lengthy emails. For starters, you can give this a try. 

Conclusion 

Starting up a small business based on your knitting hobby can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Despite the added responsibilities and stress, it can also be immensely satisfying to watch your hobby take off into something bigger. Whether you want to diversify your income or make it your full-time job, having the right strategies in place to ensure success is key. 

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