Ever dreamed of turning your hobby into a business? Read on...

Ever dreamed of turning your hobby into a business?  Read on...

Your money or your life, what is most important?  Well I say both - because money buys freedom.  The trick is to know how much money it takes for you to survive and then to spend no more time earning it than is necessary for day to day survival, savings for emergencies, a decent level of comfort and a few luxuries. And some longer term savings of course, but it's actually keeping the spending in check that will get you there, not how much you earn. 

I know the perceived self help book wisdom is to do the work you love in order to earn a living. However, reality check although I know this is contraversial.  That dream can disappear rapidly when it is pursued at the expense of work/life balance!  Because trying to turn what you love into a business usually means working very long hours to earn enough money.  This can seem okay at the start but after a year or so it becomes well, just more work.  

Your dream of being an artist becomes at least 50% marketing, selling and book keeping if you really need to make a living from it.  Then there is what sells.  Probably producing the same thing over and over - limited edition prints and variations on a popular theme, such as painting the coastline or mountains near where you live cos it sells, fine a few times but 50? 100?  500? coasters, greetings cards... So where is the studio time for producing one-off creative pieces?  There is the same challenge fitting that in as there would be in an actual job...and you are probably earning an awful lot less money.  

 

So go ahead if you don't mind that and if not, keep it as a hobby business for earning a bit extra and enjoy  it.  For your main source of income, get work with the best hourly rate you can, that  you like and that is relatively easy to earn a living from.  That may well be a job but going freelance or  having your own business is an excellent option as your main source of income,  just look carefully at the earning potential, competition and profit margins before  you decide what to do.  Have more than one business if you want to! 

If starting any business but especially a 'dream' hobby     business, think about scale and that sweet spot where your business will produce the best return whilst not taking over your life.  We are both self employed and have three businesses between us.  That sweet spot is in constant motion and a hot topic for discussion in our house!  It works and we are part time with a decent income.  

It has also been very handy in these Covid times not having all our eggs in one basket.  If  you re not too heavily invested in  your business being your 'dream' and markets dry up, you can change what  you do and still have an income.  So you were an artist?  You are already set up as a business and art is not selling in a recession? Start doing something else, such as dog walking, cleaning or helping others with book keeping...Or all of the above.

Charles Long puts it well in  his book 'How to Survive Without a Salary'.  He tells the story of a young man who is a baker and walks to the local town delivering cookies from his rucksac.  He loves it.  Loves the baking, loves the walking to town.  He has a simple lifestyle with few overheads so it works.

 Then someone suggests his product is so good he should expand. So  he gets a Unit to work from and a van to deliver cookies.  Before you know it, he is working twice as hard, spending a lot of time marketing cookies, doing admin, accounting and cash flow, ordering supplies and driving the van - and of course  paying someone to make the cookies and paying the bank for the loan that bought the van.  But does he earn twice as much?  No, because of the overheads.  More worrying, he is now back in the rat race, competing for the same market as other cookie companies and doing all the things he did not want to do.  No time for walking with a rucksac now!

Aim to maximise your hourly rate, doing well-paid work full or part time.  Assess all your work-related expenses to work this out, even if you are in a job rather than having a business.  For example, the car needed to get to work, child care, a cleaner, lunches you buy instead of make when rushed, work clothes, extra treats and holidays to make up for working full time etc.  Often, working full time is not such good value as you thought, especially for the second job in a household.  This is because it often means getting child care, a cleaner, dog walker and not having time to get the best price for groceries and other items.

The less you spend, the less you need to earn.  When we are happy and working part time, we tend to spend less.   And you can squirrel away the cash from that extra wee hobby business whilst working at the day job.  You will enjoy watching it grow and it makes it a very satisfying hobby business.  

 News flash in the UK you can earn £1,000 profit from a hobby business, ebay Airbnb or other sources without having to declare it or pay tax on it.  That's profit, not turnover.  So a hobby business can earn you 20% more if you are a basic rate tax payer.  If you live elsewhere, check if your country does the same.

Leftover tub pasties

We are focusing on the food bill and on all bills really. The concept I love this month is shopping in your own cupboards.  Leftover tub pasties are always a favourite meal and work as follows:
If there are little bits of savoury food leftover, instead of putting them in the fridge to go off, you keep a tub in the freezer and put them in there. This is not food off people's plates but that left in the pot.

Once the freezer tub is full, make a batch of shortcrust pastry. Or buy frozen pastry if you prefer, or if the hassle of making pastry is going to mean it never happens.  It is still a very cheap meal.

Empty the tub into a bowl and add seasoning. We add curry powder, herbs and/or tamari.

Roll out the pastry and cut into oblongs.  Put a spoonful of mixture in each one. Add a couple of slices of onion and/or some cheese to each one if you want. Dampen edges of pastry, fold over and press them down.  Bake in the oven on baking trays for about 15 minutes until golden.

The miracle is, whatever you put in them, it always seems to work.

Home made pastry freezes well too so why not make an extra large batch for next time?

Voila - several almost free meals.
And the pasties freeze well.

Contents of the leftover tub

adding a small amount of cheese and onion

Ready for the oven

the finished pasties

BEING BROKE AT CHRISTMAS
I decided to write this after struggling to get into the Christmas spirit as usual.  We are blessed with being financially solvent  thanks to having followed the Your Money Or Your Life programme in the book by Jo Dominguez and Vikki Robbin, but it was not always so easy.

This post is for you, if you are struggling with debt and lack of money this Christmas.   I would rather give the money to charity than buy things no one really wants and this year have made a donation to the local food bank in lieu of Christmas cards and some gifts. So ask for the Your Money or Your Life book for Christmas, or my other bible, The Tightwad Gazette

I get cross that people feel pressure to spend money they don't have just because it's Christmas.  Have a look at the blog entries for previous Christmases about the ways we have found to get around that over the years.

For this year though, I want to focus on money and what to do if you are broke this Christmas.

So here is a question:
What could you do to earn £10 right now?  One of the things about being broke is the blind panic.   If you need a lot of money in order to be solvent, earning £10 can seem like a drop in the ocean.  But break the problem down into managable chunks and you begin to feel resourceful again.  If you can find one way to earn £10 you can find several ways.  Do it ten times and you have £100.  Then think what you could do to earn or save £50...there always seems to be something.

Think about your hourly rate when deciding which things to do first.  Some things will net you £50 an hour and some 5p!  So this morning I have been experimenting and here is what I did:

Put some books up for re-sale on Amazon.  
 Non fiction is best.  I went through the book shelves and pulled out anything that had not been read for a while, or was available from the Council library service (check their website).

As is often the way, I found that one of the books will sell for about £13 although the others will only net me £1 or so each.  A good result, assuming they sell but it didn't take long to do.

books put up for sale on Amazon today

NB It is easy to sell things on Amazon and does not involve Paypal.  There are many things other than books that can be listed and I once sold a tent on Amazon!  You don't need a photo if the item is already listed on Amazon which is a big advantage. 


Switched to a Nationwide Flexdirect account
Look at moneysavingexpert.com for up to date information about bank accounts and choose one that suits your needs.  I got an interest free overdraft for a year and a £50 referral fee split with a friend because she recommended me.  I will also get 5% interest for a year so long as I pay £1,000 a month in.  What prompted the change is that Smile started charging a £25 a year just for having an overdraft facility even if it is not used. Some accounts will pay you £150 just to switch to them but might charge more for an overdraft, so do the sums.

Made a large pot of soup
This has gone in the freezer so that when we think 'what can we eat' there is something there and we will not end up with a takeaway.  A packet of broth mix cost £1 in the Pound Shop and will do two pots of soup.  I added carrots, onion and potatoes and some vegetable stock.  (buy Marigold tubs of veggie stock for a lot less than veggie stock cubes.)  I know this isn't big news but every so often I remind myself to do it, as bad habits creep back.

Here are some other things we have been doing, just not today...
Repaired some hiking boot laces
Yes really!  the ones on my hiking boots had got all frayed and I had problems finding new ones that would fit through the holes.  Getting new ones would mean braving the shops and I would undoubtedly come home with lots of things I didn't know I needed until I saw them.  So I got a reel of sewing thread and bound the ends -they look fine and you cannot tell the difference.  Actual saving about £2 but take the inevitable impulse shopping into account AND the fuel to get there and it is a lot more than that.

My daughter made some Christmas decorations
the felt and sequins cost £1 for a large quantity of each and she used the stuffing from an old pillow to pad them with.  Great for giving as a little 'thoughtfulness' if you go to visit someone.  It may not have actually saved much money but is a real morale boost and a handmade gift is so special.  We love the ones she gave us.

felt hearts cost pennies to make

Had a £1 gift challenge with friends
This always seems to result in more fun than 'normal' gift giving and you get extra Brownie points for a second hand or hand made gift, or even a book that you have read yourself and want to pass on.   We have had some hilarious times as a result of it - remember the pink and orange psychedelic long johns Andrew...  We also keep a gift box throughout the year and if we see a likely present for anyone, it goes in the box. 

Bought this year's turkey on Boxing Day last year
A huge turkey cost only £10 and is lurking in the bottom of the freezer.  Our lovely neighbour also presented us with a huge trout after a fishing trip and we are saving it for New Year.  So plan ahead for next year and look out for bargains on boxing day and New Year's day.  We found that 9pm on New Year's Eve is a great time to go to the supermarket.  We bought things for 5p that would usually be £5.  Yeah I know some of you would rather be at a party but call in on the way like we did!

remember - do review your bills...
Over the holidays if you are at a loose end, check your house insurance fuel, phone and car insurance bills.  If you have never done this before you will probably save a lot of money by reviewing them.  Look at www.moneysavingexpert.com for the latest information.