My Hobby Pays My Bills: 3 Ways I Turned Fun Into Money
Written by
Cindy Lamothe
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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Ever catch yourself daydreaming about turning your favorite hobby into something that actually pays the bills?
Whether you’re a weekend crafter, a gamer, a plant whisperer, or someone who just really enjoys making stuff, there’s a good chance that passion of yours could bring in some real income.
GOBankingRates spoke with Johannes Hock, president of Artificial Grass Pros, about how he turned something he loved into serious income generation. He said, “I turned something I genuinely enjoyed into a business that supports me financially.”
A Love for Landscaping and Outdoor Design
Hock said working with artificial turf started as a hands-on interest in landscaping and outdoor design, and over time he built it into a company that now pays the bills.
“It’s a mix of passion and practical execution, which is exactly what this topic is about,” he stated.
How He Turned His Passion into Profit
“The way I went about turning my hobby into something that pays my bills was to treat it as more than just a hobby,” Hock explained. “I’ve always been into athletics and when I saw competition I learned that I had to learn about performance, results and efficiency, and that kind of attitude carried over when I started working with artificial turf and landscaping.”
What started as a personal interest and then maybe a home project turned into projects for friends and neighbors and, eventually, a way to make money.
The key, he explained, was to keep it enjoyable while finding places where it had real value.
“I didn’t go at it with a business plan, but I did develop it with seriousness enough to watch for opportunities while I was doing something I love that I might be able to cash in on here and there,” Hock noted.
Monetizing His Hobby into a Business
Hock developed the business by picking small easy projects that he could do quickly and do a good job on, so people were more than willing to pay for his services.
“I wrote down what worked and what didn’t, from materials shopping to estimating costs and time, and then began to scale up slowly so I could do multiple projects and find out how the details would change so I could do several at once and not get burnt out,” he explained.
To monetize it, Hock said he basically treated it like a small business, both in structure and in charging for his work, but always left enough space so that it didn’t lose the creativity and fun.
“Part of it had to be personal, so things like developing a designer touch or a new installation method wouldn’t make things feel totally work, like even now that I’m making a little money with them,” Hock concluded.
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