6 steps to help you start making money on your hobby

1. Understand what you are good at

You can make money on almost any hobby. If you enjoy handicraft, try sewing or knitting clothes. And if you love social media, take up SMM. You can take pictures, draw custom-made illustrations, repair equipment, or bake cakes. Try to understand what fascinates you and what will be of interest to potential customers - at this intersection, an idea may arise that will make money.

Practice every day will give you the experience you want and see if you are ready to turn your hobby into your life's work. Unlike a hobby, a workflow is difficult to build on the inspiration that comes from time to time. Daily practice will help you rehearse your new role.

2. Find product value

Your task is to understand how your proposal will be better and more interesting than other similar ones. To do this, study your competitors. For example, let's say you want to bake custom-made cakes. You can emphasize that you use only natural ingredients, offer several fillings to choose from, or create an individual design. You can bake vegan cakes or small bento cakes with funny captions. Your offer should sound in such a way that customers would immediately like to place an order.

Think about how else to encourage customers to buy. For example, you can package a product beautifully. The experience of buying in a plastic bag and craft paper will be very different, without spending too much money on decoration. Regular customers can be offered discounts or pleasant bonuses.

3. Make a business plan

It will help you determine your goals, ways to achieve them and understand how much you can earn. The business plan should contain:

• Description of the idea. Briefly tell us what product or service you will offer, what are its main features and what benefits the client will receive from the purchase.
• The target audience. Even if it seems to you that your product is designed for the widest possible audience, try to specify it more specifically. For example, if you want to sew clothes, in theory, your target audience is unlimited. But in fact, your main customers may be people in their 30s and 50s with above average income who do not like to buy clothes in the mass market. Knowing this, you will be able to correctly formulate your proposal and advertise it effectively.
• Competitor analysis. It will help you find your niche in the industry, avoid making mistakes that competitors have already made before you, and make your product better.
• Product promotion methods. Describe the specific strategies you are going to follow. For example, you can advertise a product on social networks - set up targeted ads or buy ads from bloggers. Take care not only about how you will attract new customers, but also about how to keep the regular ones. For example, you can think over a system of bonuses and discounts.
• Financial plan. It helps to estimate how much money is needed to start a business and what expenses will be needed in the next stages. You may need to buy new equipment and materials or invest in social media promotion. Consider fixed costs (taxes, rental fees). Do not forget to indicate the income that you plan to receive from the business.

4. Register as self-employed

Self-employed is a person who pays taxFederal Law "On Conducting an Experiment to Establish a Special Tax Regime" Tax on Professional Income "dated November 27, 2018 N 422-FZ (last edition) / ConsultantPlus on professional income at a preferential rate:

• 4% - if the money was received from an individual;
• 6% - if the services are paid by a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur.

Self-employed do not need to pay additional income tax. The status is suitable for people who have their own business, there are no employees, and the amount of income per year does not exceed 2.4 million rubles. It allows you to have a confirmed income and not be afraid of fines for illegal business activities. Self-employed people have access to government support measures: for example, you can get a discount on renting space in a coworking space or consult on accounting and taxation at business support centers «My business».

To register as self-employed, you don't need to go anywhere, you just need to submit application in the mobile application "My Tax", on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia or through one of the authorized banks. You can pay tax in the same way that you used when registering. To do this, you need to enter into the system information about all payments for the month. By the 12th day of the next month, you will receive a notification with the amount of tax. You need to pay it no later than the 25th day - you can transfer money from a bank card in the My Tax application, use the State Services portal or your bank's application.

5. Find your first customers

The easiest option is to tell your friends and family about your service or product. You can write a post on social networks and ask to share it. It is unlikely that this will bring a flurry of orders, but you can test how the processes are established and get feedback. Feel free to photograph the result of your work - this will help you build a portfolio for future clients. Then you can launch targeted advertising in social networks and contextual advertising in search engines.

Gradually move on to tools that will work for the long term. For example, you can publish texts on your blog or on third-party sites. Try to sell on a marketplace where there is already a large audience and your own promotion tools. It is better to go there with products that are in demand on the site - people will see your offer when they are looking for a similar product. Each marketplace has different product requirements and fees - read the instructions before signing up.

6. Don't be afraid to assert yourself

A person who dreams of his own business may have many fears and stereotypes about business. For example, you may be afraid of being left without a stable income. Take a company vacation or work in your spare time to see if you're comfortable with your new business. And sometimes it scares you that there are already similar offers on the market. But it is wrong to think that you are no different from others. Each person has their own experience, so it is important to understand what makes you unique. Do not be afraid to assert yourself - if you do not try to start your own business, you may later regret it.