You can turn your hobby into a business…and turn that business back into a hobby. It’s perfectly okay!
A talented friend recently announced that she’s ending her long-standing quilting podcast. This comes on the heels of her and her business partner closing down their pattern/sewing biz last summer. I listened to her farewell episode tonight. She’d lost her love of sewing because she was always sewing for business and had no time to sew for pleasure. She didn’t set foot in her sewing room for over 6 months. She said her husband was even worried about her.
I can so totally relate! My day job directly impacts the amount of time and energy I have to devote to my business. That is one reason I stopped making t-shirt and baby quilts. I was busy and enjoyed creating the quilts, but I when I looked at the numbers, I wasn’t making any money after I accounted for all the time spent making those quilts.
So, I looked at my options:
(1) Teach from home. I did this for about a year with weekly after-school sewing sessions. Everyone had a great time, but having strangers in my house was just a little too unnerving for me. Occasionally, I have a group of neighborhood kids or children of co-workers in studio for a private lesson, but that’s about it.
(2) Rent space outside of my home to teach classes. Available, but too expensive with just 4-6 students.
(3) Affiliate with a local quilt shop. This has been the best solution. One shop marks up my fee per student and I suggest sell products for her. Another shop took 30% of the class fee and expected me to fill the class. I offered classes through Parks and Rec, but their class minimums were so high that the class never made. A local business offered use of their classroom space for free during biz hours. I was very grateful to have this option available. I am hopeful that I will be able to do summer camps this year.
(4) Technical editing. This has consistently been the BEST option as it is a service that is location independent.
Come Stitch With Me, LLC 