The challenges of turning a hobby into a business

Sometimes, when we turn a hobby into a business, we can often lose the very nature of its intention which is to bring us joy. Creating more joy in our life takes effort! And yes, that means that even joyful hobbies require us to keep showing up to do the work. But, hobbies push us to learn new skills which calm our mind and leads to true contentment.

My “hobby to business” story – 

I began my floral business serendipitously because I loved gardening and growing seasonal flowers for our home. Gardening was the joyful hobby that I turned into a business. I was lucky enough to work from home to raise my boys while contributing to the household. At the time I was thankful to live in a commercially motivated country. It made it relatively easy to turn my hobby into a business. But now, ten years later, I’ll be honest; I’m a bit burnt out.

Over the years I learned that running a wedding floral business from home is emotionally charged and physically demanding. Interestingly enough, the weekends I once spent with my family were now nonexistent. When I gave up my hobby to make money, I lost my free time to create from a place of joy. Even though I was working with seasonal flowers all the time, I lost the joy I once found working in my garden and flower designing. Why? I feel it’s because I turned my joyful hobby into a business. In my eagerness to monetize my hobby, I had misplaced the joy associated with what I loved.

If you are looking to turn your hobby into a business or begin a new hobby my suggestions are:

• Find a hobby you love, first and foremost! Everyone should have something that brings joy to their life and challenges them to learn something new. It doesn’t matter what it is. Sketching, gardening, meditating, journaling, or cooking. Make time for what brings YOU joy.
• Why it is essential for us to have a hobby? Not only do hobbies provide our bodies endorphins proven to reduce stress, but they can also keep us mentally sharp as we age and improve the quality of our lives.
• Discipline yourself to make time for your hobby regularly. By creating a habit, you will naturally become better at performing tasks associated with your hobby. I personally create (and share via my newsletter) a monthly tracker that not only helps me make time for my hobbies it helps me keep an eye on my personal goals and the daily tasks to reach them. I share another tracker that I personally sketch each month to help visually track the moments of joy in my life.
• Create boundaries for the time spent on your hobby! It’s important to learn how to set better boundaries and outline to others in your life the importance of respecting the time you choose to spend on your hobby. Creating healthy boundaries is beneficial for you and all of your friends and family members.
• Before turning your hobby into a business carefully consider how this change may impact your enjoyment of what you do. Just because you can monetize your hobby doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Yes, you may be wildly successful in your new venture, but it can also lead you down a rabbit hole where the joy you once found in your hobby is nonexistent or strained. Now don’t get me wrong, a hobby turned into a business that brings you great joy is fantastic and if you manage to turn your hobby into a business without giving up that joy, go for it!

I believe that a joyful hobby allows us time to think without distractions and also provides us the space to reinvest in the magic of us! 

As you pursue your passion projects, you’ll also discover the power of having something to look forward to after work. The excitement of your hobby can rescue you from the noise of your day-to-day life and help you avoid burnout. We need more “me time” routines that can whisk us away from our busy schedules to a more joyful creative place. And no, our hobbies don’t all have to businesses! I hope that you never underestimate the power of having an outlet like a hobby. Hobbies are a way to discover new adventures and separate yourself from everything work or stress-related.

If you have a few more minutes, I invite you to spend some time with me in my creative space as I share a lesson in floral arrangement. Be sure to leave me a comment below, I’d love to hear what your thoughts and experiences are on the challenges of turning a hobby into a business. 

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