Hobbypreneurs

I recently wrote an Entrepreneur Evangelist post on WorkingPoint called Canines, Trains and Really Great Parties. The post was a response to an article by Daniel Kehrer of Business.com about the new trends of hobbyists-turned-entrepreneurs, and their increasingly noteworthy impact on the small business space.

In reading the original article, the notion specifically reminded me of three friends who have been on this same hobby-turned-entrepreneur journey, in some cases for several years before they even realized it.

The Painter
For years The Painter has paid the bills by being a project manager leading development teams in web application environments (which, naturally, is how we met). She is smart, creative, a great integrator of complex project solutions and very well-respected by her peers. But her love is painting. So, as a side business, she not only sells her paintings, but she also does commission artwork: she paints customized pet portraits.

The Engineer
Ironically, "the engineer" is a double-entendre for my second friend: while we used to work together when he was a system engineer for the ecommerce site I worked on, his hobby is an online model train community that includes an ecommerce business. What started out strictly as an enjoyable past-time has, over time, become an increasingly viable business in its own right.

The Event Planner
Did you ever have a friend who was the go-to person for something for everyone they knew? My friend is the go-to person if you want an event planned. Whether it's one of her best friend's weddings, my 30th birthday, or the company Christmas party, if there is an event to be planned, she is the person you want to draft. Not only does she know how to get it all done, but she can even make sure it comes in on budget.

What I found especially interesting is the fact that none of these three people ever set out to become an entrepreneur. They each had something they loved, and they were good at, and over time it logically began to evolve that there was potential for revenue in pursuing their hobby more seriously. Even more interesting, however, is that none of them particularly see themselves as being part of a larger entrepreneurial community.

This is where someplace like can have the most enormous power, and it's a huge part of what excites me so much about what the partners are building: what could possibly be better than connecting prospective entrepreneurs to other people who can be passionate about their ideas, help them figure out how to move forward, and share valuable insights and lessons?

One of the things that is often most true of hobbypreneurs is the fact that they are coming from a place of genuine passion -- after all, they start out not getting paid at all. This is a great headstart over some entrepreneurs who may be passionate about the idea of entrepreneurship more than of any specific business. It's a great time to start trying to see if you hobby could really be a viable business. I bet if you look hard enough, there are already people out there doing it. In which case, why wouldn't you give it a shot, too?