The formula for turning handicrafts as a hobby into a business. How to turn a hobby into a business? Fantasy and non-standard approach

Every passionate person sooner or later thinks about earning extra money.

The first thing that comes to mind is to make a business out of a hobby. And this is quite real. Firstly, you are good at what you are passionate about and know a lot about your hobby. Secondly, you don’t have to start from scratch, since you already have not only the skills, but also the initial tools to implement your plans. All that remains is to sort out the details, weigh the risks and move from plans and dreams to action.

What hobbies can you build a business on?

You can turn almost any hobby into a business, both well-known and popular ones and the most rare ones. Suitable for earning money:

• All types of handicrafts, even if you live in small village where there is no one to sell products manual labor.
• Drawing in any technique, including creating digital images.
• Photography and photo processing.
• Everything related to the beauty of women, men and pets.
• Love of gardening, gardening and landscape design.
• The ability to compose elements and beautifully express thoughts in prose.
• An unrealized dream of becoming an artist or singer, TV program host or announcer.
• Cooking.
• Love for children.
• Floriculture and floristry.
• Interest in digital technologies.

List of hobbies that you can actually do profitable business, we can continue endlessly. After all, what you create easily, others cannot do.

Handicraft business - brief plan

Most women dream of making money from their favorite handicraft. And this is more than realistic, because handmade crafts are now very popular and in demand not only in the domestic market, but also abroad.

Monetizing your favorite hobby or how to turn your favorite activity into income.

As Henry Ford said, “The most best job- a hobby that brings high income" But in our country, only a small percentage of people earn their living in this way; the rest dream of change every day, but at the same time continue to go to school. hated job justify yourself in every possible way. We suggest you stop regretting and start making money from your hobbies. To do this, you don’t need to quit your stable job - first, do it in parallel with your career.

Since you are already reading this article, it means that you have some hobbies, and at the same time you would like to have additional income. Hobbies mean not only what you do with your own hands, but also intellectual work. Yes, yes, any hobby can be turned into hard cash!

So, first you need to decide:

• What hobby do you want to earn money from?
• How professional are you in your hobby?
• Are you ready to develop, learn and improve, or would you like to earn at the level you have;
• Are you ready to subsequently expand your hobby and open a business, or continue to do so in parallel with your work?
• Are you willing to hire people to do the job later, or would you like to stay in your comfort zone?
• How much per month/year would you like to receive from your hobby;
• Do you have space, equipment, and how much money are you willing to spend investing in your hobby?
• Is there a demand for these services/products, and what is the market price of what you plan to do;
• What are the methods for sending goods or conditions for the provision of services, what payment options do you accept;
• Is your family ready to provide support (from sending goods to helping around the house and freeing up your time in case of urgent orders).

This is just the tip of the iceberg and it is better to resolve these issues before the first client appears. It is also worth immediately defining the limits of what is permissible regarding the number of orders, because any overload can turn a favorite hobby into a hated activity.

By the way, a note for those who have always wanted to learn something new, but at the same time always spared money for courses and master classes - you can safely learn new things, because this can later bring both income and a lot of positive emotions!

Now, having analyzed the situation, we move on to the next point.

The answer to this question is banal and has long been hackneyed, but still we repeat - any business can bring amazing income if it is really high-quality work and the topic of the work is relevant. But you shouldn’t rush to conclusions here - after all, every product has its own buyer. Which? Where to find it? We'll tell you below.

In order to earn income, you need a “cool head” and careful calculation.

• Calculating the cost of a hobby, if it is necessary to undergo training or purchase expensive equipment, is a calculation of possibilities;
• We determine the cost of our hour of work. The minimum is the amount for which you are willing to work, the maximum is your current hour of work. permanent place. Display the average value and this number will be included in the calculation of the cost of your work;
• We analyze the sales market and its pricing policy. No matter what unique cakes you have, if other confectioners sell for 50 rubles, then you have a new one for 150 rubles - it’s unlikely that a crowd of buyers will flock to you;
• We check various directions for implementing our hobby, find the optimal combination of “I want to do this - good income».

Let's give an example. The girl Maria really wanted to sew, and decided to start with something simple - children's bedding. But in her social circle there were absolutely no young or expectant mothers, because she was still a student. And then Maria bought some lace and sewed a beautiful set for herself, which she showed to her friends, without even thinking that there would be a demand for it. A month later, she had no end to orders from students from her own university. Initial problem: Maria did not study the sales market among her friends and relied on free message boards.

Another example. Oleg really liked working with wood, but his work, even at cost, was much more expensive than his competitors, and there were very few clients, despite the fact that the work was done in an original, interesting and high-quality manner. Then Oleg decided to purchase raw materials in bulk, imagine his surprise when the cost dropped by 2 times! Conclusion: if you decide to put your hobby on a commercial track, purchase raw materials in wholesale or small wholesale quantities whenever possible. Also ask for discounts and special conditions from regular suppliers.

Profitable hobbies, ideas, hobbies for women, men, girls, housewives, mothers on maternity leave: list

So, the most popular hobbies that bring income to their owners. But remember, this is just a tiny list, and the coverage can be much broader:

Blogging is currently popular. If you like to write interesting, informative and with a twist, if you know that you have something to say, go ahead. But remember - the authors of promoted blogs receive income for advertising and other services that are offered to the audience on the blog pages. Therefore, first you should work on quality content, your audience, and then get money and pleasure.

Income options:

• Affiliate programs;
• Advertising on blog pages from Google AdSense and Yandex.Direct;
• Paid content;
• Advertising yourself as a copywriter, proofreader, etc.

Favorite video games. Do you love to play and can’t imagine how you can live a day without playing? Then this method is ideal for you. Of course, you will need a stable Internet, a powerful PC, free time and a desire to “work.”

Income options:

• Game testing carried out regularly by companies. These can be both new games and new versions of already favorite games;
• Creating let's plays and maintaining a channel on YouTube (placing advertisements is identical to bloggers);
• Participation in gaming championships. Yes, they don’t happen often, it’s difficult to get in - but the winnings are worth it!

Drawing. To be honest, there are several main ramifications here, but there are many others.

• Drawing comics online and for online/offline publications. Work either as a freelancer or “for yourself” when blogging or YouTube channel;
• Maintaining a website or YouTube channel with educational drawing lessons;
• Running a circle in your city, where you will teach adults or children to draw;
• Drawing paintings and/or portraits to order and for sale;
• Painting walls, posters, stands in commercial organizations.

Income options:

• Administration of a page/group in social network as a freelancer;
• Maintaining your page/group and, after promotion, receiving income from advertising;
• Affiliate and sponsorship programs on your page/group;
• Participation in freelance exchanges and earning money from posts, likes and reposts.

Photo. Today, almost every photographer is an amateur. But if you own a good camera, have an understanding of light and other nuances of photography, you shouldn’t do for free what you can get paid for.

Income options:

• Photography of people. It’s easy to start: create (if you don’t have) pages on the most popular social networks, master the science of posting and attracting an audience (for example, put hashtags on Instagram, write short but informative descriptions) and regularly post really high-quality photos. You also photograph your friends and their acquaintances for free, given that they will post a thank you post on their pages with a link to you. Word of mouth is also encouraged;
• Continue to take photographs for free on TFP terms, expanding your portfolio and plus selling photos on photo stocks;
• You photograph food, nature, streets, etc. exhibiting works on paid photo banks. With one successful photo you can earn enough to live comfortably for a week.

But don’t forget, the photos must be of really high quality and shot with talent.

Cooking. This can be either baked goods or seemingly standard dishes. Currently, the most popular orders are for: cakes, gingerbreads, marshmallows and oriental sweets, low-calorie and fitness foods, organic products.

Income options:

• By placing advertisements and using word of mouth, tell about yourself. Bring it to your company, to your husband’s place of work, and also give treats to your friends’ offices, who will treat themselves and treat their colleagues to delicious masterpieces. And if you have talent, orders will flow like a river;
• Conduct master classes on preparing interesting and rare dishes;
• Open a cooking club where you can teach young housewives several times a month baking masterpieces;
• Go to local cafes and offer to “take a sample” and put a sample batch up for sale;
• Keep a blog talking about cooking secrets and earn money from advertising plus promote yourself;
• Celebration service. Invite your friends to take on all the difficulties of preparing a banquet, ask them to talk about their experience on social networks and to their friends. Many housewives today prefer to hire people rather than prepare a hundred dishes before the celebration themselves.

With sports in life. First it is your hobby, then it is a way of life, and then you can pass on your knowledge to beginners. Trainers are needed in many private fitness clubs and studios, and having gained experience, you can take a risk and open your own studio.

Is shopping your passion? Don't miss the opportunity and make money on it! It would seem unrealistic? Not at all!

Income options:

• Tell your friends that you are a personal shopper. Offer your busy girlfriends and friends help in finding highlights in new deliveries and sales;
• Post advertisements about your services and help people get the things they want without long searches;
• Travel with clients as a shopping consultant or image maker, or after taking measurements, go online shopping.

Love to spend time in coffee shops, wander around shopping centers, visit restaurants and shops. Do you know what service is and the price of its quality? You can safely apply for the position of Mystery Shopper. And yes, this work is not exclusively for girls and women, there are a lot of Mystery Shoppers for men!

Architectural layout. Once a popular hobby of aristocrats, it was undeservedly forgotten and remained mainly in construction companies. But there are also lovers of this rare hobby. If you are not lazy to participate in exhibitions and present yourself on the Internet, this hobby promises to bring considerable income!

Floriculture. Probably, each of us had a strange neighbor/acquaintance/friend of a friend who never worked for a single day, had the most beautiful flower beds, and at the same time, took money to live from somewhere. It's simple - growing rare and interesting flowers brings good income, but in addition to hobby, it is important to find your own market.

Breeding rare animals. Many people are surprised how you can spend $5,000 on one cat, but there are those who are willing to pay for this cat, and also pay for flights to other countries! Are you planning to start one or already have one? pet? This can bring good income!

Gardening. For those who have their own plot and like to “dig in the ground”, it is worth calculating the profitable crops and breeding them. For example, good varieties of strawberries and careful care of them during the season can bring profit, for which the whole family will live safely until the next harvest.

And, of course, it is impossible not to mention HAND-MADE. This section includes both men's and women's areas:

• Wood carvings, wood products;
• Metal carving;
• Jewelry;
• Decorations;
• Home decor, textiles;
• All kinds of knitting, sewing, embroidery;
• Exclusive dolls;
• Wedding decorations, decor, etc.;
• Holiday decoration;
• Feng Shui direction and ethnic products;
• Musical instruments;
• Shoes and accessories;
• Beading, macrame;
• Felting wool;
• Floristry (production of artificial flowers and plants).

Remember that you are not paid for your time, but for the product you receive. And accordingly, it must be unique, high-quality and correctly presented. You can make yourself known on bulletin boards, thematic websites, on social networks, at exhibitions and fairs. Remember, no matter how much we would like to, our consumers are not yet ready to pay really worthwhile sums for handmade work, but this does not mean at all that we need to work only for export.

The scheme of work in this case is simple:

• The cost of work is 1000 rubles;
• On domestic markets sales cost of work is 2000-3000 rubles (how you evaluate the work, and your time, plus focus on the competitive environment);
• On the foreign market, the price may already be 10,000 rubles, because the market is more extensive and Western clients are willing to pay well for handmade work.

The best online trading platforms for selling goods and products

This section will be useful specifically for HAND-MADE manufacturers. We will not dwell on the nuances and will offer domestic and foreign sites in two lists.

Domestic online platforms for selling HAND-MADE:

World-famous online platforms for selling HAND-MADE:

How to start selling your products, what do you need for this?

Many masters of their craft are stopped by this very point. Everyone writes what and where to sell, but how? Yes, you will need to communicate with clients. If you don’t want to talk to clients, find an intermediary who will be willing to do this work for a certain amount. But at the same time, fame, name, and part of the income will go to him.

Video: How to communicate with a client correctly? || Business youth

Video: Laws of Sales: “How to start communication with a client”

Next point: make a few pieces to sell as well as for your portfolio. Look at the work of other artists. Pay attention to how they photograph, what surrounds the product, etc. Take high-quality photographs (at least 3 of each product).

Video: How to professionally photograph handmade products even with your phone?

Now is the time to display your products online. Don't forget about social networks. And this does not mean at all that you need to create separate pages - display them on your pages, then your products will immediately be identified with the owner.

Video: Secrets of selling on Instagram - How to sell for millions on Instagram?

Think about how you will send and receive payments. The moment the client calls you back, you should already know this.

Be prepared for telephone communication at any time. If it’s absolutely impossible to devote time to the client, apologize, tell them that it’s difficult for you to talk right now and promise to call back at a certain time. Don't forget to call!

Also enable email notifications if a client contacts you on one of the sites. Don't forget to check your email regularly if you don't have sound notifications set up.

Of course, the mentality of the country is such that if there is an opportunity not to pay, no one wants to. But we still call for changing this line, at least in order to move into the mainstream of law-abiding citizens and not be afraid of the unexpected appearance of the tax office and their fines.

To begin with, you should decide that it is best to open a patent, individual entrepreneur, UTII or simplified tax system, depending on the type of activity and turnover. According to unified register select the required OKVED and submit the documents to the tax service.

Many people mistakenly believe that it is simply impossible to open your own business without lawyers and money. On the contrary, if you want to understand all the nuances, contact the tax inspector for advice or hotline 8-800-222-2222. More details on the official website.

Finally, prepare a package of documents and register. All that remains is to properly maintain documentation and pay taxes monthly.

And here another controversial opinion arises - how to pay tax every month if orders are received irregularly. Massively before the holidays or seasonally. It’s simple - you register “during the season” and, in addition to paying the current tax, you defer the tax amount for the “off season”. This is exactly how a lot of businesses operate, why not learn from their excellent practices?

Regarding payment acceptance. No matter how amazing a master you are, if the client is inconvenient to pay or receive a product/service, he will go looking further. We recommend immediately opening funds to your card/account, as well as at least 2-3 electronic wallets. PayPal, WebMoney, Yandex.Money. Yes, there is a commission and it may be inconvenient to withdraw. But remember - products self made a privilege of wealthy people, and the majority of them have long abandoned cash or reduced it to a minimum; they are ready to pay for service and comfort.

By the way, if you don’t have a studio, be prepared to meet clients on their premises. And this means delivery throughout the city. Also, get in touch with all the delivery services you have access to. This list should include both low-cost and fast companies.

And in conclusion, I would like to add that there is no work that does not involve communication with other people. And if you decide to earn additional income, or even open your own business, communication with clients is the key to successful promotion.

Golden rule for clients:

• A satisfied client will tell only 3-5 people about his experience;
• A dissatisfied client will tell 5-50 people about his experience, and if he posts a negative review on the Internet, then the reach is completely difficult to calculate.

We hope our article answered all your questions, inspired you, and you are ready to get started! And how to win the love of the market in our final video.

Video: Brian Tracy: How to Win a Client's Trust

Video: How to attract clients? TOP 3 methods that give results

Video: Get rich with HAND MADE | Anastasia Madeira

Every person wants his work to bring him real pleasure and not be a routine that you want or don’t want, but needs to be done. People become happy when they do exactly what they like. Moreover, getting good money for it. It's a pity, but many people consider this something almost unattainable, a distant dream. This position is fundamentally wrong. Your hobbies and passions can become your profession and provide you with stable financial well-being.

Hobbies that can be used to make a business

1. Fitness. Many of you have probably met people who are simply obsessed with an ideal figure. They devote all their free time and energy to their studies, and just enjoy it. By creating their own fitness club, they can teach other people what they themselves love most in the world. Isn't this what everyone dreams of? If you are an expert in yoga, Pilates, or, for example, are excellent at mountain biking, then you can easily become an instructor in your field - or work as a trainer in sports clubs and schools.

2. Photography. Each of us has taken photographs at some point in our lives. But some individuals can do it simply amazing. If you have excellent photography skills, like to constantly learn something new in this matter and never cease to generate new ideas for pictures, then people can pay you good money for your favorite work! Everyone should have in their arsenal good portfolio. To build it, at first offer your services at low prices (or maybe even for free), and then, when you become an experienced and respected photographer, orders will find you on their own.

3. Music. Some people consider music not just their hobby, but a way of life, and cannot imagine their existence without it. If you are just such a musician, then you should think about making music also a way to earn money. , piano or other instruments, or vocal courses are just what you need.

4. Fashion. People who fanatically follow fashion and are obsessed with the latest trends, oddly enough, have the opportunity to make a decent profit on this weakness. Fashion experts can easily become stylists, image makers, and even sew their own clothes. Fashion gurus also often write books on this topic, articles for famous magazines, and blogging.

5. Cooking. Many women (and sometimes men) love to please themselves and their loved ones with something tasty, new or unusual. And you can also make a business out of this good and useful thing! Organize or, for example, meat dishes. Promote your products first among friends and acquaintances, and then reach a higher level.

6. Blogging. Those who are good at writing beautifully and interestingly, whose readers enjoy their work, can seriously think about creating their own blog. Choose a blog topic based on what you like most and what you are a real expert in. But know that in this case the money will not come the next day. You need to have patience and perseverance to win your audience of readers, which is needed to make money from advertising.

7. Antiques. There will be connoisseurs of antiques at any time. And if you resell goods from flea markets, organizing sales, or simply selling stale valuables at a fairly high price, you can have a good income. Vintage collectors know everything about their product. Some particularly enthusiastic individuals are able to pay unimaginably large amounts of money for an item that they have long wanted to get. You can sell such things via the Internet or through your own small store.

8. Organization of events. Not many people have the ability to create a real one. But those who do it skillfully get real pleasure from the smiles, joy and gratitude of the people for whom they created the fun. If you are creative, sociable and charming, then decide what kind of events you want to organize and go ahead!

9. Carpentry work. Nowadays there are many factories engaged in the production of wooden furniture, but looking at quite low prices for these products, it seems that such a business is no longer relevant and will not bring benefits. But for exclusive handicrafts incredible beauty, many wealthy people would be willing to pay any money. Isn't it nice to create beautiful things that other people admire?

10. Gardening. For some, mowing the lawn, planting flowers or removing weeds is a real punishment. For others, it’s a pleasant pastime and pleasure from the results of their work. If you are just such a person, then you have the opportunity to take care of other people’s gardens and vegetable gardens and get paid for it.

What hobby did you make a business out of?

Beginning entrepreneurs are often in search of ideas for their business. The main task of any entrepreneur is to find exactly the kind of business idea that he will like and which will be pleasant to implement.

That is why an entrepreneur should think about using his hobby as a business.

A hobby is something a person does in his free time. This could be drawing, knitting, embroidery and many other activities that you like.

Today, a hobby as a business is a very common option. Since people's hobbies are very diverse, the types of businesses also vary. The main areas of hobby that can be used as a business idea are the following:

• Making handmade cards;
• Writing or ;
• Knitting;
• Manufacturing of wood products;
• Soap making;
• Making jewelry and much more.

An additional idea for people living in rural areas, can serve as packing of vegetables, preserves in summer and autumn and their sale in winter.

Thus, many families harvest vegetables and berries that grow in their gardens not only for themselves, but also for sale. And in winter period go to the market or sell rolls through friends.

Despite the fact that such a business is seasonal, it is very popular, especially among people living in villages.

Another hobby that can be used for business is computer games.

So, those who like to play can earn money cash while playing games online. Cash is awarded for completing certain levels and receiving rewards in a particular game.

In order to start earning money in this way, you should register on special services and create your own account, which will be linked to an electronic wallet.

In this way, the player will be able to withdraw funds from the service and transfer them into real funds. It is recommended to ensure that this hobby does not develop into a serious addiction to computer games.

Each of the above types of hobbies as a business has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, each person chooses exactly the activity that he likes.

How to make money writing articles

Copywriting, or article writing, is a common hobby today. With the help of articles, people not only express their opinions about certain events in the world, but also try to earn money.

One way to do this is to register on one of the existing copywriting exchanges and start writing articles for money. It should be noted that you should not expect large incomes at the beginning, since you need to earn yourself a rating, according to which your work will be evaluated.

On copywriting exchanges you can write articles on any topic and sell them in individually. It is also possible to work with the customer, in which he sets the topic of the article, the basic requirements for it, deadlines for completion, as well as payment for a certain number of written characters.

Today, some of the most popular copywriting exchanges are etxt and advego. On copywriting exchanges, you can choose the amount of work and write as many articles as you can.

Why did you suddenly decide that you can make money on Bentley by knitting slippers or SMM? We are strangling initiative in the bud. We check the “objective reality” settings.

You and I were present at a historical moment. Before our eyes, both the Soviet and post-Soviet career paradigms have finally died. If in the Soviet version the ideal looked like “ work book with a single entry” or progressive growth in line with the nomenklatura system, and in the post-Soviet - like a career in a Western corporation, now we are dealing with completely different values.

Hired labor - from light hand Kiyosaki is declared a loser's occupation. Better mobile coffee shop, but his own than the post at Gazprom. Better capitalization of your talents than measured life clerk or nervous life of a top. Risk and individualism are good, dependence on the employer and labor relations are bad. The result of this approach was a fermentation of minds, expressed in a cosmic number of startups and micro-businesses. Yesterday's clerks began to see the light and discover remarkable powers within themselves. And most importantly, they gain confidence that by “doing what they love” they can live the lifestyle of billionaires in retirement.

Self-confidence is, of course, the engine of any business. But are radical changes in career and lifestyle always justified? Or rather, they are always justified, but how timely are they?

The inexorable statistics that I keep for myself show: the number of requests for consultations from those who want to leave paid work is approximately equal to the number of requests from those who want to return. So let's try to clip your wings in advance with a few simple questions.

1. Are you really the best on the market? Why is your product/service better than the same thing, but performed by a large and well-known corporation? Why is it better than other entrepreneurs?
2. It’s trite to remind, but still. Are you really ready for changes in your standard of living? In business, there are all sorts of times. Today you are a hired worker and choose between Lafite and Clicquot, and tomorrow you are a free person, but you choose between “Monastery Izba” and “MKSHV” champagne.
3. Do you really want to sell something? Constantly, hourly, seven days a week.

Download these three thoughts into your brain and live with them for 3-4 days. How do you like it?

Ok, I agree, no one can objectively evaluate point 1, and maybe it’s not necessary. It is enough to understand that your prices are reasonable and you have an initial food base– a circle of “warm” clients with whom you can start. On the other hand, complete carelessness here is also unforgivable. If you don’t know your competitors and can’t clearly show the client the benefits of working with you, nothing good will come of it. More precisely, the first steps to promote your knitted slippers, homemade cakes, SMM services will almost certainly not be easy, but if you haven’t come up with that very USP, everything will be even more difficult.

Another obvious thing that most new believers don't realize. Let's say you were an employee. And they worked in a certain company. Besides you, there were salespeople, accountants, lawyers, and, characteristically, general manager. OK. You left the company and became a freelance marketer\SEO\SMM\HR... - and who do you think you became? (Spoiler: every first person thinks that only the CEO).

So, you became general in last resort. And first of all – a seller and an accountant. Plus everyone else, right down to the security officer and the logistician.

Do you think that in this situation there will be much time left for the main business? And were you so eager to, say, communicate with the tax office, understand the dreary accounting schemes, delve into the intricacies of marketing on social networks? Yes, you don’t want to know anything about the cost of one impression, advertising targeting and the simplified tax system. You want to knit slippers.

But that was not the case. Everything that was previously so successfully outsourced to colleagues from the relevant departments of your company is now your daily work. “To hell with everything!”, one well-known character smiles from the cover, “Get involved and do it!”

Yes, go ahead and do it, but first take it as an axiom that the number of possible failures will increase exponentially. For the simple reason that the number of their potential sources will increase.

In hired work there was only one such source - your direct function. Now you can equally screw up in the main function, in accounting, in logistics, and in sales. Moreover, the consequences will be much more severe than with hired work: your business simply does not have a margin of sustainability yet.

If you don't have to trade, don't trade. False beliefs that push you where you don't belong

In principle, everything here is quite transparent. As an HR worker, I responsibly declare that in order to roughly understand how well your trade will go, a superficial analysis of your resume will be enough. You probably have it. Open it and watch it now.

Have you worked for 15 years in a row in a federal state unitary enterprise, federal state budgetary institution, state institution or similar stable environment? Think hard. Maybe let the hobby remain that way? There are no predictability or guarantees during “transformation”. What your peers rave about may not be feasible in the broader market. If you bake great cakes, feed them to the “girls from the accounting department” for free and they go with a bang – this does not mean that these same cakes will be bought up by strangers for real money.

The problem is not that people may not buy cakes (this is not true: with the right attitude, everyone will buy them), but that you may not see the real trends and price limits of the market. This means that the transformation process will be slow, painful and sad.

In addition, you will have to quickly get used to the fact that stability is the exception rather than the rule. And, in fact, first you have to understand what stability is: when you have it in the background for many years in a row, you stop noticing it.

Other options on your resume. Were you running from place to place? Well, maybe there's nothing wrong with that. If you don’t have any resume at all, because you’ve been an individual entrepreneur all your life, then I think you’ll figure it out without me.

What do we have with false beliefs? Let's try to bring some of them to the surface of consciousness.

• “Well, I’ll try, maybe I’ll be able to sell something” (There should be no doubt! The working version, which does not allow options, should be “It will work out”);
• “Who will buy this? People have no money at all!” (You probably don’t have this. And, it seems, you never will. If you can’t cope with this thought, quit everything immediately. Your happiness is hired work);
• “To sell something, you need to approach it normally. Well, there, it’s expensive to make a website, allocate a lot of money for marketing and SMM. And the main thing is to hone the quality of the product to complete perfection. I must have the perfect Instagram with the perfect slippers!” (So ​​you will always get ready and never start.)
• “It’s all too scary. What if I mess up something with taxes? What if criminal structures become interested in me?” (Thousands of lawyers and individual entrepreneurs submit reports, and nothing. And criminal structures are not interested in you.)

In a word, even if you are completely unbearable, first calmly deal with uncertainty, perfectionism, fears and social stereotypes.

By the way, an equally false belief is that sales will happen by themselves. I am deeply convinced that you can sell absolutely anything and absolutely for any money, but the process cannot be started without effort. Are your landing pages or knitted socks incredibly beautiful? As long as no one knows about it, you can assume that landing pages and socks are the most ordinary.

The mere fact of publishing photos of your cute socks on VK will not lead to their sales. You have a lot of tedious and painstaking work ahead.

For what and at what cost? Do you really understand this? “Infocoaches”, etc. characters as absolute evil

Are you ready to move from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm? Don't give a damn, because failures will inevitably happen. And enthusiasm must be fueled by a clear understanding of why you need this whole story. That is, your motivation. Good motivation– achievement (freedom, money, independence), poor motivation - avoidance (tedious work, conflicts with colleagues, routine, etc.). I will assume that if you yourself don’t really understand what you want, a crowd of people who want to help will immediately come to your aid. Keep your ears open! It is at this stage that your real needs and intentions can drown in information and consultation noise.

Who's making the noise? Yes, you yourself know.

As soon as information Technology penetrated into every iron, quite naturally an army of those who capitalized on this arose. And, which is also natural, there is an army of those who feed on those who capitalize on it. In other words, infocoaches. An infocoach is a coach that no one has ever seen in person. He lives on your Skype. He spams all your mailboxes - because you once foolishly liked his post on FB. He also gives you free webinars from his kitchen and free “books” (in fact, a large pdf file), writes various kinds of “selling letters”, etc. He encourages you to “pick up” all free content from his website (and yes, for some reason he really loves this expression).

Whatever you do - from slippers to marketing - you will in any case sell it via the Internet, which means you are a potential target audience for an infocoach. What is good about infocoach?

• if you don’t quite understand where to start, maybe you can learn some simple ideas;
• if you don’t want to pay any money at all for these ideas, you don’t have to pay.

What will you get in addition? And this is where the fun begins. As we understand, anyone can take on the prestigious title of infocoach. Some of those who have decided to become one, for the purpose of promotion, copy the strategies of other infocoaches who, according to them, came to successful success. Accordingly, the information array they create is growing more and more actively and becoming more and more homogeneous. As a result, when you come to an information coach in hopes of creating your own unique strategy, you will most likely get about the same thing as your competitors. Will this work? What do you think?

Let's think logically. In a particular line of business, the number of successful projects is for some reason always lower than the number of failed ones. We know about successful projects (albeit from the words of the project authors themselves), but we have much less information about failures. In short, this is what is called “survivor bias.”

And if suddenly you meet an information coach who tells you about the worst business practices and 101 ways to go bankrupt, hug him and ask him about everything in more detail.

And be careful with enthusiastically positive characters.

A little about taking decisive steps and “cutting off the safety net.” What happens if you assess the situation after the start of the battle?

Finally, you have lived to see the day when you finally understand: all your energy is on capitalizing on your hobby and not a minute of your life on hired work. It's time to take out a saber and slash at the tired leash labor relations and office slavery!

- Come on, come on! - business literature quietly itches in your ear, - Take it and do it! Cut off the insurance, place the army in the area of ​​death, stop being a poor dad and an office bunny!

Got it. They cut me down. Six months have passed, and your “safety cushion” (didn’t you have one?) has been depleted.

Suddenly, bleak circumstances began to emerge: your expenses are regular, but your income is not. Not only have your previous articles not gone away: clothing, food, transport, corporate governance, but new ones have also been added: taxes, outsourced accountant services, advertising, purchasing materials, etc. You have discovered that the real landscape competitive environment not at all what he looked like from the outside. Firstly, there were much more competitors. Secondly, competitors, as it turned out, are constantly inventing something, undertaking something, changing strategies and introducing new products to the market. All this does not add optimism to you, and as a result, work becomes more and more difficult.

I'll stay a little K.O. Start the process smoothly. There is no need to cut down any insurance there. Make a plan and figure out how you will parallel work and business at first. And at what point will you go into your own business completely? I think this should happen when the income from your capitalized hobby for at least 3-4 months in a row will be at least 80 percent of your income from your main job. This is where everything will become clear: is there real demand, are you comfortable as a businessman, what needs to be done to make sales go up.

Maybe you know, but I’ll remind you: a significant proportion of pathologists’ clients are citizens who jumped into the water head down in an unfamiliar place. With our “transformation”, in general, the situation is similar. Of course, you always want to get rid of the burden of boring work functions and throw yourself into new area. But it is much wiser to enter this flow gradually. Study competitors' strategies and the latest technologies in your field, participate in specialized events, determine the ratio of your labor costs and realistically possible income. Then there will be more chances to swim out.

An annoying phenomenon in your new life: clients. What you don't expect them to do and what they are likely to do

Everything would be fine, but sooner or later one small problem arises. There are a certain number of people around you who behave unceremoniously and unpredictably, evade specific agreements, tell you unrealistic fables and want something unknown. But you are ready to tolerate them. We are ready to meet their whims and wishes for one simple reason: they have your money.

And another strange conclusion: they become something like bosses for you.

“Well,” you say, “but what about freedom and independence, the opportunity to send everyone and everyone, the opportunity to deal only with sane people?”

I hasten to disappoint: no way. It is impossible to work for clients and be independent of the client. This is true even for Russian Post and Russian Railways. Until your business reaches Russian Railways scale, you will even have to show miracles of loyalty and flexibility. Stephen Covey called something similar “effective interdependence.”

A little about what you don't expect from clients. Most likely, you don’t expect what you yourself don’t plan to do. Let's say, scam a client. Or give him black PR. But the client’s soul in this regard is in the dark. I am not calling for building barricades and treating the client as a deliberate antagonist. I simply encourage you to follow three simple rules:

1. You can take an advance payment - be sure to take it. This disciplines both sides :-)
2. Agree on everything “on shore”. The client must clearly understand what is paid and what is free.
3. Give the client a little more than he expects. Even if it is something symbolic. A beautiful bag for knitted slippers. Extra 30 minutes of paid webinar. Extra 300 grams of homemade cake you baked.

There are also positive aspects. Subject to the above rules and normal marketing strategy the number of clients will grow exponentially, and accordingly, your income will grow at the same speed.

Imposter Syndrome: Sometimes it's not a syndrome. How to understand that you are an impostor

Here we are talking about situations where your competence will be questioned by clients. Of course, by this we do not mean that you are actually simulating the skills and abilities that you are trying to sell.

Let's be honest. How many times in the last month of your work have your colleagues approached you with something like this: “Vasya, you are such a cool specialist in stationary squirrels! We don't know anyone cooler. Please give us 10–15 minutes. No one except you can clearly say how exactly they are going crazy”? If all you do is fight off such consultations, congratulations: you can capitalize on it - of course, if you come up with a suitable strategy. If not, then perhaps you are not such a strong expert? The point is not even that the social recognition of your expertise objectively reflects its level. (Let’s say you really know in great detail the operating principle of the mentioned device). The fact is that if you cannot clearly convey your knowledge to both a three-year-old child and a hundred-year-old grandmother, you don’t know a damn thing about stationary squirrels. In this case, you will never be able to sell your consultation to anyone, and since you will also be bursting with self-confidence from within, you will get the reputation of an impostor.

- Who, Vasya? I know him. He has been working in the hairdressing department for five years now. Puffed up like a turkey. But he can’t really explain anything.

An impostor is not someone who doesn’t know/can’t do anything in their chosen field. And the one who cannot give his knowledge, skills and abilities presentation. We are not talking about the “manufacturer/businessman” dichotomy here. It's more about the fact that if you don't have the proper level of social intelligence, you will still look like an impostor.

You can paint brilliant paintings and conduct brilliant coaching sessions, but if their genius is obvious only to you, see above.

So, the first sign is that you do not know how to present the product face-to-face (regardless of the reason).

The second sign is that you don’t want to do this. Every time you communicate with a client and offer him outsourced accounting, knitted slippers, website promotion, you feel an inexplicable discomfort inside. You should not ignore the “weak signals” of the subconscious and blame everything on lack of experience, retrograde Mercury, etc. The greater the gap between external aplomb and internal uncertainty, the greater the likelihood of being an impostor.

I repeat, we are not talking about any objective criteria at all! Imposter syndrome is a state of your mind, and the more stable it is, the more it affects your real reputation in the eyes of the client. Even from a distance. Even if you have never seen clients live and do not plan to.