That Hobby Looks Like a Lot of Work

QUIT your day job?

You’re not the only entrepreneur asking…so are folks making and selling crafts and vintage goods. One gal, Yokoo Gibran, did just that: she now runs a one-woman knitwear operation. She earns more than $140,000 a year, more than may law associates. The New York Times continues:

“Jealous? How could you not be? Her hobby is her job. But consider this before you quit your day job: at the pace she’s working, she might as well be a law associate.

“I have to wake up around 8, get coffee or tea, and knit for hours and hours and hours and hours,” said Ms. Gibran, who leveraged the exposure she got on the site to forge a deal with Urban Outfitters. “I’m like an old lady in a chair, catching up on podcasts, watching old Hitchcock shows. I will do it for 13 hours a day.” And even after all those hours knitting, she is constantly sketching new designs or trading e-mail messages with 50 or more customers a day.

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Bottom line: It’s not easy to make a go of your own business. And, says the New York Times, “even the successes add a note of ‘seller beware.’ To build a profitable business on the site, they say — well, it’s a business. You need to…” more here.

Don’t we know, huh? At least we have some leverage – with regular customers we get paid on, where the company does the shipping, not us. And with a sales rep or two in our group, who make sales on which we earn overrides.

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