Creative Hobby vs. Creative Business

Creative Hobby vs. Creative Business

As a creative, you can choose to create your art as a hobby or a business. Both are enjoyable and moral options.  Creative friends, do you know which one you are doing today? Let’s do a basic definition of both terms before you answer that question.

1. Hobby- When you create as a leisure activity. It costs you money. You are not making a profit.*
2. Business- When you create your art as a profession by engaging in profitable commerce. Basically, your services and products make you money.

• Longevity- The only way for you to continually change your world through your art is to make a profit. If you work a 9 to 5 job and you only brought home what you financially invested into your work, you would not be working there very long. You would move on to a job with greener pastures that benefit you too by giving you a real return on your investment of time. We have to think the same way about our creative business, even if it is just a side hustle. We have to see a return on the time we invest into our art, or there will be no time or funds left to create more art.

“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” -Walt Disney

• Servanthood- When you build a business, you’re not just building it for your own pleasure. You’re also building it for the people you serve. As a business owner you know that, when you serve others well, they will reciprocate that service with “little green bills of appreciation”. That’s what Rabbi Daniel Lapin calls money, by the way. Lol! The amount of money you receive has a direct correlation with how well you serve others. If you are not profiting, you really have to assess how well you are serving.

“A hobby serves you. A business serves others.” -Cathy Heller

• To Thrive- I want to see Artists bringing home a profit so that they can take care of themselves, stay healthy, educate themselves to grow better in their skills, keep a roof over their head, etc. I believe that creatives feel more free to create when they live a life of financial dignity rather than a life as a “starving artist.”

“It all begins with you. If you do not care for yourself, you will not be strong enough to take care of anything in life.” -Leon Brown

• Giving- You also can’t give if there is not a profit. Some artists are “feelers”, making them compassionate and giving towards the plight of others. It is very common to find artists who are also spokespersons for organizations that help with all kinds of social injustices. We as a community must choose not to take advantage of your giving hearts, and to pay you for your creations that so greatly enhance our lives. This ensures you have a profit that can help you to freely give to community needs that tug at your soul.

“Being generous is the hallmark of people who live successful lives and who operate business with a soul.” -Dave Ramsey

Creative friends, when you win in business then we all win. Encouraging creatives like yourself to profit is not only good for you, but for our community. Serving people well through business is being a good neighbor. We need what you have to offer and we need you offering it while thriving and not starving. The more I learn about the goodness of business, the more I despise to hear those words “starving artist”. Friends, let’s make a promise to never accept the words “starving artists” as a badge of honor ever again. 🙂

In the comments, lets talk about how you are feeling about turning your creative hobby into a business.

Bonus: For my creative friends who want to read something more lengthy that includes the topic of “hobby vs business”, there is a great book by Christy Wright called “Business Boutique.” Another great read on the goodness of doing business is “Thou Shalt Prosper” by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. No link this time, but you may purchase either book wherever audio or physical books are sold.

*Note: If you have a hobby that doesn’t mean money is never exchanged for your art. It means there is no profit. So lets say you spend $500 a month on your online side business, and you bring in $500 a month (or less) from sales, you’ve got a hobby. Though money was exchanged for your art, technically it is not a business, because you have not made a profit at the end of the year. In fact, when you file your business income tax with the IRS each year, and it is a “loss” year after year you could find yourself getting audited. The government does not want to give tax breaks on losses to a hobbyist. Never making any profit year after year may red flag your tax return to the IRS. Please talk with your CPA for tax legal advice regarding this matter.