Career

Turning a Hobby Into a Career

Getting home after a long day at work often results in an hour or two spent on the sofa just doing…well, nothing. The last thing you want to be doing is thinking about more tasks that you have to do like cleaning the house, perhaps doing the washing, preparing tea and getting the kids ready for bed; you just want to relax.

However there are many of us who get straight out of work and head off to do something we actually enjoy, one of our hobbies. Lots will go and play five-a-side football with some friends in a league, others might go to a spinning class or to hit the treadmill at their local gym, some choose to do something much less active and go to the cinema – we all have our ways of unwinding.

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There is another way that some choose to relax though, and that’s by combining our hobbies with the chance to make a little extra cash. People get so passionate about the things they enjoy doing, and the fact that they could always use a little extra money in the bank, so they decide to turn a hobby into a career.

It’s often the strangest things too with bingo lovers turning to the likes of bestoffersbingo.co.uk to help them win the kind of money that turns them into ‘professional’ bingo players; and even blogging has become a career for some people who make significant sums of money through advertisers on their own sites or by going freelance for agencies.

With so many different opportunities out there, it might not be the sort of thing you want to do on a full-time basis, perhaps because the market or audience isn’t there; but if you can make a success of it in the early stages it may be worth taking that risk to go full-time in the future, who knows?

If you think about making the leap into something of a ‘freelance’ or self-employed career, then there are a few things you need to consider first. The first, as already touched upon, is whether the audience or market is there. If you’re going to risk your own time and money, you want to do so knowing that there are people out there interested in what you’re offering and that you’re going to be able to stand out if it’s a competitive market already.

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You might have the best product, service or set of skills and get the encouragement from your friends; but that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to crack the market – especially if you’re utilising the web.

Blogging, for example, is something that anyone can do but if you can’t make your site stand out or if you can’t increase your audience then your words will go unread. It will pay, in this case, to have a knowledge of web development and SEO to help you to increase your visibility and to optimise your site around specific terms that are relevant to your site to help boost your chances. However, if you feel the need to employ an expert in this field, you can always get in touch with professionals (like the ones at https://www.expedition.co/services/development/los-angeles) who could help you in the domain of web development and in turn, increase footfall to your site!

Another consideration is related to tax. All income must be declared to HMRC once you start to earn over a certain amount so it would make sense to speak to a financial advisor either at a bank or an accountancy firm, to find out where the tax threshold is and how to file tax returns so that you’re not punished for tax avoidance.

Finally, you need to make sure that you have the time to put your all in. If you’re going to offer a product or service, missed deadlines are not good for your reputation. People invest in what you’re offering or selling and if you soon find that your full-time commitments stack up and you can’t fulfill orders you’ll have some very disgruntled customers demanding their money back.

It’s always a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Hobbies are used as a form of fun and relaxation – if turning it into a career will take the fun away, it might not be right. If you’re sure that it’s for you then give it your all!