Turning your passion into a business is a great way to make a living while doing something you love, but it’s not always easy to know where to start. If you want to turn your passion into a business and learn how to make money from your passion, here are seven tips to get you started on the right track.
Skip ahead:
- Do your research
- Build your online presence
- Test the waters
- Make a plan
- Understand your finances
- Think long term
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help
- Conclusion
The first step is to do your research and make sure there’s a market for what you’re passionate about. Explore what’s already available and where there are potential gaps in the market. Just because there are competitors in the marketplace doesn’t mean there’s no space for you. Your wisdom and your ability to connect with people the way they need to hear from you matters, so do not quit before you start because there are others out there.
Instead, view it as validation for the concept or idea you have. It’s also really important to get clear on who you want to serve. Who are your potential customers? What needs does your target market have that you can address? What are your competitors doing? Answering these questions will help you turn your passion into a business with a greater chance of success.
Read more: Guide to Building a Business
In today’s digital world, it’s more important than ever to have an online presence for your personal brand and business. Thinkific communities provide you with the opportunity to not only expand your brand but to actually engage with your community members too. This makes a big difference in fostering the “know, like, and trust” factors with your community members so they stay engaged for years to come.
Plus, by using Thinkific, you can host your course and community in one beautifully-branded place. Thinkific makes it really easy for you to customize the look, feel, and vibe of your member’s area and forward-facing enrollment pages to match your existing brand. This continues to build brand awareness and credibility as you expand what you make available to your community.
Before committing fully to your passion-based business, it’s important to test the waters and make sure there’s enough demand for what you’re offering. While you obviously have a passion for your business, if others don’t, you want to save yourself the hassle and potentially keep this as a hobby.
One way to do this is to encourage them to sign up using Thinkific’s “pre-order” functionality. This will help you gauge interest so you can fine-tune your offering before going all in. It will also save you a ton of time, energy, and effort if it isn’t necessarily ready for the market yet. This has been a super valuable feature for not only courses but also communities, on Thinkfic.
It’s very simple – if you get the pre-enrollment numbers you’re looking for, by all means, go for it! If you’re not, you might need to tweak, change, rework messaging, or consider a different offering. Regardless, it’s amazing to be able to test the waters before getting in too deep.
Once you’ve done your research and tested the waters, it’s time to make a plan for how you’re going to turn your passion into a sustainable business and deliver exceptional value for your community. This is where really knowing the needs of those you are trying to serve makes a big difference.
For example, in Communities, you can host Q&As, post updates, and link to other resources that you have available. Knowing when and how often you need or want to engage with your community will make a big difference as you map out the content you need to create or the opportunities to engage that you want to provide.
It’s also helpful if you’re planning on monetizing the community, to think about the business plan behind the time you’re spending on creating your community. This plan should include setting financial goals, developing marketing and sales strategies, and outlining what steps you need to take to bring your business idea to life and turn it from a passion to profit. Most importantly, take things one step at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. You can continue to add and develop the community as you see fit or as your community grows.
Read more: Online Community Statists to Shape Your Community Strategy
Before launching your business, it’s critical that you have a solid understanding of your finances and what the cost of doing business will look like for your new endeavor. This includes things like knowing how much money you need to start up your business, understanding what expenses you’ll have, and projecting how much revenue you can realistically generate in your business.
Thinkific even offers a free pricing strategy course to help you get clear on the numbers you need to create a profitable business. Getting organized early on will save you a lot of strife down the road, plus you’ll be able to set sales targets to strive for to turn your passion for your business into profit.
Building a successful business takes time, so it’s important that you’re thinking long-term when starting out. This means having patience, sticking with it even if it’s challenging, and always keeping an eye on where you want your business to be in the future.
Remember that great things take time and nothing epic happens in your comfort zone. While this may be new, you’re going to learn so much and be able to scale your business, impact, and reach over time as long as you stick with it. Be patient, and don’t get discouraged. A “one day at a time” mentality makes a big difference.
Lastly, lean into what’s working and re-evaluate what’s not. Paying attention to trends and insights and letting data drive decisions will help your long-term strategy.
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness—it’s actually one of the best things you can do when starting a business! There are lots of resources available to Thinkific members and creators, so don’t be afraid to reach out for assistance when needed. I love their training hub and free classes for creators. Getting support and advice from others will help ensure that your business is set up for success from day one.
Conclusion
Building an online community is a great way to boost engagement and retention. By using Thinkific, you can easily create an engaged and supportive community for your students all on a singular platform. While starting a business based on something you’re passionate about can be hugely rewarding, it’s not always easy, but Thinkific has done a great job creating easy-to-use tools and platform builder so you can get your community up and running in no time.
By doing your research, building an online presence, testing the waters, making a plan, and understanding your finances, you’ll be well on your way to turning your passion into something sustainable (and profitable!). And don’t forget to ask for help when needed—the entrepreneurial community is full of people who are eager to support fellow business owners.
If you’re ready to get started on building your very own business with Thinkific Communities, sign up today!
