Business or Hobby
I give a handful of complimentary discovery sessions each month and sometimes I end up talking to designers who have a hobby and they want to turn it into a business.
Here are my top tips how to do that:
Spend as much of your free time working on your hobby so you can transition to it be a full-time gig for you. I am not saying you need to work every night and every weekend, but do not spend your weekends catching up on Bravo reruns when you could be working on a new design, calling on stores etc.
I am definitely about working smarter and not harder, so if you need to hire someone to help you out, please do so!
Make sure people can get in touch with you via your website, have proper business cards etc.
If you do have a product you can wear, you need to be wearing it as much as possible. Think of yourself as the brand ambassador!
Seek opportunities to showcase your product - local trade or craft shows, stylists pulling for photo shoots or TV shows, sending your product to influencers to get them on the bandwagon. The more brand ambassadors (influencers) you have talking about your product, the easier it will be to get the word out!
Get some sales reps on board or get your product in a showroom. The #1 most important rule to have a business is for your business to be doing sales. You need the sales so you can continue on creating.
As soon as your sales start producing enough to support production, next season’s sampling, overhead and rent then you have moved from hobby to legitimate business.