How To Turn Entrepreneur With DIY Hobbies

If you have a talent which can swell into a thriving business, then you should certainly try your hand at entrepreneurship!

So you have a hobby which is well appreciated, wins you laurels and people often tell you that you are nothing short of an ace craftsman. You have a knack of making something marvelous from a regular hobby and people around are encouraging you to take it up on large scale, leaving you starry eyes now. At this juncture one wonders what the way forward should be and also if this dream can materialize at all or not.

Often we come across women who are great at Do-It-Yourself (DIY) things like pottery making, candle making, craft making, preparing delicious food items or just accompaniments, fine arts like painting, flower decorating, fabric painting and talents of this kind. Here we are just talking about these home grown talents that can be developed into entrepreneurial ventures. Domains like interior decorating, tailoring and draping or catering business are a different realm altogether where both talent and appropriate training is required to make a success.

In this age of entrepreneurship, you will see enough motivation coming from families, corporate sectors, organizations and even the government cadre to encourage home grown businesses which we mentioned in the first go. The good news is that this is the age of entrepreneurship. The society and our eco-system now understands this concept well and is supporting of it as well. The bad news is that every person capable to pull off a venture is trying his hands at it. Result: a cut throat competition in the market and the rate of ventures failing and crumbling is also high.

When to bite the bullet?

Once you have decided that you have enough expertise and zeal to start out a venture – small or midsized – on your own, here is what you should be doing:

  1. Calculate finances – Entrepreneurship comes at a cost. You will have to invest money and time in the venture, however small, and expect return only after a certain time. Decide if you can take some money from family finances and just considered it gone for a while. How bad will it hurt your family’s expenses? Will you be able to pull through eve if these finances do not yield any profit?
  2. Discuss with family – Tell your folks around about your venture. You will need their help in organizing things at home when you get busy with your venture. You may need them to do things for you, or organize finances and of course the encouragement and emotional support.
  3. Check competition – Even before you firm up your products and processes, check about the prevailing competitions and what they have to offer. Do a thorough research on their product, pricing, quality and business cycle.   
  4. Create you USP – After a market watch, create a niche for yourself. Prepare a marketing pitch about your product about why your product than others and why it stands out among its competitors.
  5. Up skill – You may be master of your craft but there is always a thing a two that acts as an accelerator for any talent. Ask yourself if you want some formal training or just understanding of the talent concerned. If need be go for short term training or courses. Such courses are available online, or just on weekends also.
  6. Network around – Once you have decided that you will start a venture, make sure you spill the beans in your trusted circle. Talk to people around and discuss. Try to find people who have supportive mindset because they can connect and introduce you to other such entrepreneurs. For beginners, there is nothing better than getting a group support. You many find your new clients within this circle only. There are formal and informal networking groups around. They are available both online and offline. Join them as per your convenience, but networking surely does help.
  7. Ask veterans – Get in touch with people who are masters of this craft or may be even have failed ventures in the same domain. Talk to them and discuss your basic ideas. Their insights will tell you about possible roadblocks coming your way.
  8. Seek government help – The central ministry of human resources and skill development has many finance and mentoring schemes for budding entrepreneurs. What more, they dole out generous support and subsidies to new venture for example, floriculturists. Explore this opportunity for lot of your worries about financing, mentoring and skilling will be taken care of easily.
  9. Create a brand for yourself – Create a profile for your business on social profile and send out its address along with every product. Encourage people to write review for you there. You can even think about advertising through your brand page on internet.
  10. Have a check list ready – Always have a check list of things to do, especially related to legal and taxation. Seek expert help when required especially in matters pertaining to business registration, documentation, tax advice and so on.  
  11. Be positive – Keep a positive outlook for your venture. Even if things don’t work of eventually you will still be richer in terms of experience.

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Yojana Sharma
Yojana Sharma is a Delhi based new media journalist. She is also running a social enterprise jobsfordisabled.org while raising a toddler.

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