How a hobby becomes a business
Back in 1992, right after my daughter was born, I began doing scrapbooking. Because of my “lost childhood”, having no memories, keepsakes or images of me-I swore I would not let this happen to my daughter. I wanted to cherish every moment and give her a full life story when she became an adult.
So, I went to the craft store, bought every cool scrapbooking thing I could find and went home to create. Days later I had a couple of pages done with fancy papers and heavy accents..the page probably weighed about 3 lbs! I realized quickly that I was not meant for traditional scrapbooking-it just was not “me”. So, I started doing “scrapbooking” on the computer and I LOVED it! I created page after page of collages with text and images. After additional research online I found several resources for digital scrapbooking and then I learned about bookbinding. WOO HOO! I was in heaven. When I had my first book complete I had shown it to some friends who went nuts over it…they suggested doing it for money. This was not something I had considered, but thought it was worth a shot!
A couple of months later, I attended a small craft show as an exhibitor with some of my collages framed, and a couple of books. The response was overwhelming and a good indicator that this COULD WORK!!!
Five years later, I am still doing it and have added so much to my offerings. I have a very niche market and contiue to evolve and grow.
So, moral of this story-NEVER under estimate where that work for yourself opportunity may come from, or what people may be interested in paying for. There are still days I wake up and am amazed I get paid for doing something I love so much. Just think about all the things you enjoy and love…..how can you morph that into a money making business?
