There are many “gurus” out there suggesting that any hobby can be turned into a business. Make jewellery for fun? Sell the stuff. Enjoy those crafts? Make them professionally! The problem is some hobbies are better left as hobbies. Here are some of the reasons you want to avoid turning your hobby into a business.
Not All Hobbies Are Financial Gains
You may have a hobby that cannot be turned into a business. Like stamp collecting? This is not necessarily a financial option.
Yes, there are going to be some who want to collect the same stamps as you and are willing to pay for that, but do you really want to sell your own collection? Others just have no selling option due to the nature of them.
They’re Supposed to be For Fun
If you turn your hobby into a business, what are you going to do for fun? It’s fine if you have a few pastimes and only use the odd one or two, but if you only have the one you have just lost the fun outside of work.
When you turn something fun into a business, you end up with all the stress of the customers, the marketing and the shipping of items. Isn’t it best to just keep it to yourself?
May No Longer Enjoy It
Remember all that stress of a business? It can lead to your hobby no longer being fun anyway.
You can’t escape from the stresses of your own work, and your income on the side. That can lead to struggling to be happy when you’re not earning money. Of course, some people do find the joy in creating things for others. It depends on the hobby and the person.
You Lose Your Creativity
You could find your creativity suffers, especially if you’re making items for other people. You end up with people dictating everything they like. If you make artwork for the walls, you end up with people telling you to paint something they love and not what you do.
That can lead to creativity problems because you have no muse when it comes to something you find horrible to work from.
It’s Hard to be Motivated
You need to be motivated to do the work. If you’re not, you will let deadlines pass and have angry customers on the phone to you.
When you’re doing something you really don’t enjoy anymore, it’s even harder to find the motivation to continue.
There Isn’t the Time to Do It
Remember you want some time to yourself. Your hobbies offer you that. But if you’re doing the work for other people and on their terms, you end up spending time on a business.
This isn’t time to yourself. You have to treat the work differently, and lose all passion for anything you’re doing. You may find that projects also take longer, so you don’t have the time to spend with your family either. And nobody wants that to happen.