Don’t force it

Your hobby will not make you rich. In most cases, it won’t even net you enough to allow you to quit your day job. It’s quite possible, however, to earn enough money to make the hobby self-sustaining, to keep yourself in new tools and equipment.

My brother builds speakers and works with audio equipment as a hobby. He makes some money at it. (”Spending money,” he says.) Jeff notes, “It’s not hard to make money from a hobby. What’s difficult is trying to turn it into an actual business. Moving from a hobby to a business is a pain-in-the-ass.”

Often when you try to take your hobby to the next level, the joy goes out of it. Suddenly the extra income just isn’t worth it. When I tried to turn my computer-building hobby into a business, I hated it. There’s a balance to be achieved, and if you can find it, you can have a fun while earning extra income.