FUN MONEY

By NICHOLE L. TORRES
Spending your free time gardening, restoring classic
cars or collecting antique jewelry can be a joy, right?
It's the thing that renews your passion, the thing that
makes you feel that all is right with the world.
Wouldn't it be great to find a way to make money
doing what you love? Turning your treasured hobby
into a business will take hard work and a truckload of
creativity, but the rewards are endless. You'll be
doing what
you love--and getting paid for it.
The benefits of starting a business based on your
hobby are many, according to Rachna D. Jain,
founder of business coaching firm Excel With Ease
Coaching in Columbia, Maryland. "Many times you'll
have a lot of knowledge about [your hobby] already,"
she says. "And the most successful entrepreneurs
are the ones who have a passion for the work they
do.
Turning passion into profit takes serious work,
though. Just because you love making pottery doesn't
mean you know enough to create a profitable
business from it. Experts and entrepreneurs stress
the importance of researching any business idea
before jumping in. Denise O'Berry, president of
business consulting firm Small Business Edge Corp.
in Tampa, Florida, notes that research is one of the
most important first steps: "You need a full plan of
how you're going to address your objectives. It's all
that stuff everybody hates to do."
You may know everything about your hobby, but you
only know it from a hobbyist's point of view. Think
like a business owner by conducting a market
analysis and a competitive analysis to see if existing
businesses are similar to your idea. Is there a similar
business in your area or nationally?
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Next, find out if selling your hobby wares will sustain
you. Jain echoes that sentiment: "Once you have a
market identified, canvas Internet neighborhoods
and invite people to meet with you [for focus
groups]." You may even consider contacting a
mentor who can point you in the right direction while
you're researching your business plan.
Mentors can also offer guidance about what kinds of
businesses are a natural fit for your hobby. To jog
your brain for any possible business ideas, Jain
suggests listing 20 ways you can use your knowledge,
skills, talents or hobbies.
Beware of Burnout
Once you've found your passion and turned your
favorite hobby into a profitable business, you're
home free, right? Not quite. As many a hobbyist-
turned-entrepreneur has experienced, burnout tends
to set in. Think about it: Once you get your hobby-
based business off the ground, you start to live and
breathe that hobby 24/7. "You're no longer doing [the
hobby] for your enjoyment," O'Berry explains.
"You're doing it for your livelihood."
Before you make the leap, you should think long and
hard about whether doing your hobby as a business
will ultimately drain your enthusiasm for it.
According to Jain, you'll have to ask yourself "If I
never did this for fun ever again, how much would I
miss it? Is it replaceable by something else?"
One way to avoid burnout is to continue learning new
things about your hobby. Another is to spend your
free time pursuing an entirely different hobby. That's
what entrepreneur Steve Edmiston has done for
years. In the early 1990s when he ran a law firm,
game-making and writing screenplays were two of
his favorite hobbies. When he chose to pursue game-
making as a full-time business, screenwriting
naturally took over as the fun outlet.
In 2000, Edmiston sold his interest in the law firm
and launched a Seattle business that manufactured
coffee table games. "I had that desire for game
creation that had nothing to do with being a lawyer,"
explains Edmiston, co-founder of Front Porch
Classics Inc.
It all came together after he met a few contacts at the
local Young Entrepreneurs Organization, who also
wanted to start a new business. Edmiston, 41, then
decided to join forces with Mark Jacobsen and Mark
Pattison, both 41. In 2002, their game, Old Century
Baseball, earned the Toy of the Year honor from
Disney's Family Fun Magazine.
Currently on Front Porch Classics Inc.'s agenda:
marketing Dread Pirate, a treasure hunt game that
Edmiston had originally created for his daughter's
birthday a few years ago. With sales exceeding $1
million, the hobby has certainly proved to be more
than just a game for this trio.
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The Next Step
Now that you've done all your research, and you're
sure that this is the business for you, how do you get
going? Most hobby enthusiasts start their businesses
part time.
But still, to project a professional business veneer,
there are a few things you should do. Get a separate
business phone line, for starters. Says Jain:
"Marketing begins at the point of contact. You don't
want your child answering [the phone]." You'll also
want to set up a professional Web site and get a
dedicated fax line (or an e-fax). And make use of
some small-business Web site tools, such as those
available from bCentral.com, Entrepreneur.com and
Jian.com--there, you'll find how-tos and tips on
everything from marketing your business to making
your Web site e-commerce ready.
In terms of looking more professional, the experts
suggest ditching the free e-mail services (such as
Hotmail or Yahoo!) and instead paying for an e-mail
address and Web site with your business name (such
as Alice_Ent@GroovyPottery.com).
Looking professional, however, is not your only
concern. Overcoming the skepticism about your
hobby product or service will be a big part of your
start-up strategy as well. Keep in mind that although
you have a vision for the product, communicating
that to investors and clients can be a challenge.
Case in point: When Angel Munoz started the
Cyberathlete Professional League, an organization for
professional computer game players, he faced
skeptics from all sides, as investors and even players
doubted his vision. This Irving, Texas, entrepreneur
fought against disbelievers by remaining unwavering
in his devotion to the concept and by surrounding
himself with a core group of key people who did
believe in his business idea. Because the interactive
entertainment industry is so tight-knit, "you can't turn
your back on the skeptics," he explains. "I stayed in
contact with them and [let them know] about every
milestone we accomplished."
This "show-don't-tell" mentality helped win over
those early dissenters. When the players scoffed at
the idea of a professional league, Munoz, 42, made
certain to raise the professional level of events with
state-of-the-art equipment and services. His strategy
was so successful that his company and the league
have grown solely by word-of-mouth.
Though it wasn't easy in the beginning, Munoz
started the league to establish standards and rules of
play--as well as make some money from his target
market, the nearly 145 million Americans who
regularly play video games, according to the
Interactive Digital Software Association. Having
structured his revenue plan around membership in
the league, admission to events, sponsorship, and TV
and broadcasting rights, Munoz has grown sales into
the seven figures.
David Silberman is also a hobbyist-turned-
entrepreneur who truly understands the importance
of educating your target market about your hobby
business. As the founder of Starfish Imports Inc. in
New York City, his niche is importing Murano glass.
When he started his business in May 2002, Silberman
decided to market his concept to as many people as
possible--to both Murano glass enthusiasts and the
general public.
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Silberman, 34, learned the art of purchasing his
inventory with a careful, objective eye. For instance,
he might choose an item that doesn't fit his personal
style, but that he knows would make an interesting
offering for his customers.
That willingness to educate customers as well as
learn from them has helped Silberman grow a glass
importing business based on his love for Murano
glass stemming from his childhood. Today, he
continues to glean new knowledge from customers.
For instance, although Silberman initially focused his
marketing efforts on people in urban areas, he was
surprised to find orders coming in to his Web site
from places like Arkansas. "I learned there are more
customers out there than I previously thought," he
says. To further expand his customer base,
Silberman is looking into wholesaling to specialty
boutiques as well as selling via his Web site. That
wide range of customers has helped Silberman grow
his business to about $120,000 a year in sales.
For More Information
Check out a few of these books and organizations to
get the heads up on your hobby business.
Association of Crafts & Creative
Industries : a craft industry
organization with information,
statistics and more
The Complete Idiot's Guide to
Making Money with Your Hobby
 (Alpha Books) by Barbara
Arena and Phillip L. Reed
Hobby Industry Association:
sponsors the HIA Convention &
Trade Show, a national trade show
for hobby industry businesses
held in January
ihobbyexpo.com: the official
Web site for information on the
2003 International Model and
Hobby Expo, to be held
September 11-14 in Rosemont,
Illinois. The site also includes links
to details of past shows.
TheHobbyPortal.com: a
directory of hobby industry Web
sites with categories like antiques,
arts & crafts, cooking and so on
You Can Make Money from Your
Hobby: Building a Business
Doing What You Love 
(Broadman and Holman
Publishers) by Martha Campbell
Pullen
Long Live the Passion
Once your business is up and running, you'll have to
strive to keep your love of your hobby alive. Says
Jain, "[It's about] constantly pursuing higher
knowledge to keep it fresh." Visiting trade shows,
conferring with experts and exploring new advances
in your hobby can keep that passion burning.
Sara Brook was keeping her love for cooking alive
long before the start of her Dessert Gallery Bakery &
Cafe in 1995. A veteran entrepreneur, Brook has built
three businesses based on her hobby. "Keep it alive
so you'll stay great at what you do," she says. "For
me, that may have [meant] taking classes, reading or
trying new desserts or finding new recipes."
With a degree in computer science, Brook, now 40,
decided while in college that baking was her love; she
opened her first dessert baking business after
graduation at age 21. Six years later, she sold it and
created a chocolate sauce manufacturing company.
Six years after that, she sold that business to try her
hand at an entire bakery and opened the Dessert
Gallery Bakery & Cafe in Houston. "Having had two
successful businesses before, I felt like this would be
the culmination of all I had learned," she says. "I like
to think it's my best effort."
Brook's efforts to freshen her concept have included
adding some peripheral items to a menu that once
included only desserts. "[Those items] were really in
response to customer demand. I certainly never
dreamed in a million years that I'd have sandwiches
and wraps and salads--'real food,' as I call it," says
Brook. "It's opened a lot of doors for us because
corporate catering is a huge market." With $1 million
in sales projected for 2003, Brook's instincts have
paid off.
As these entrepreneurs have found, a passion for a
hobby can help you start a business. But ultimately,
hard work and a willingness to handle the not-so-fun
aspects of running a business are what spell success.
Done right, your hobby business can provide you
with a great living--and an even greater source of joy.
"For seven years I've been running the company,"
says Munoz, "and I am as enthusiastic about it today
as I was the day I started."
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Not-So-Trivial Pursuits
Stumped about what kind of business your hobby
might make? Check out these hobby-type
businesses--they'll either work for you as they are, or
at least get your creative juices flowing to help you
make a decision.
ANTIQUE-RADIO COLLECTING:
If you have a talent and passion for antique
radios or record players, you can restore these
pieces or sell your services to other less handy
collectors.
COMPUTERS:
If you love computers and the Internet, you can
sell your services to help people set up their
computers. You can even start a Web design
business.
COOKING:
Love to cook? Start a catering business. You
might also specialize in one food--custom-made
cookies or cakes, for instance.
EXERCISING:
If you love to exercise, you could become a
certified trainer and sell your services to help
others reach their fitness goals.
FLOWER ARRANGING OR PRESSING:
Try pressing flowers into pictures, picture
frames, cards, stationery or other gift items to
sell.
MAGAZINE COLLECTING:
Do you hoard magazines such as
Cosmopolitan? Peddle them on eBay--issues
with a famous person on the cover can fetch
high bids from fans.
PET CARE:
If you love spending time with animals, open a
dog walking business or a cat grooming
service. People love pampering their pets but
don't always have the time.
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Sell photographs, create and sell greeting cards
with your photos or sell your photography.
SCRAPBOOKING:
Love putting memories together? You could sell
your scrapbooking skills to others--make
money while you preserve their memories.
VIDEO GAMES:
Consider opening a computer gaming arcade,
which is similar to an internet cafe, but with
games as the main focus, not just the Net.
WINE COLLECTING:
Sell a peripheral product (such as an innovative
wine storage system) to other wine
connoisseurs.