Wednesday 24 June 2009

Crossroads

You know the number of times you contemplate whether this is something you might do full-time? Head for the garage in the morning, bead for a few hours, clean beads, photograph, make jewellery, etc.? I'm at one of those crossroads at the moment. Me being methodical within the chaos, let's evaluate:

pro-hobby approach:
- safe and secure income from day job
- in the current climate, difficult to find job if you change your mind
- if you don't fancy beading for a couple of weeks, the world will not come to an end
- if equipment breaks down, the world will not come to an end
- you can experiment, even if it turns out rubbish, it doesn't matter, you don't *have* to sell
- you can price however you want (interesting one, this, see below!)

pro-pro approach:
- you do what you love, every day (but see point 3 above!)
- LOTS more time behind the torch = more ppp = better beads
- more time to build up customer base
- working from home, flexible hours
- time to do teaching, fairs, etc.

Concerns:
Flexible hours = lots of hours - but more than working full-time plus making beads and selling them as a hobby?
Pricing: interesting...I try not to underprice professional bead makers, but if I *was* a professional bead maker, wouldn't I have to lower prices, simply to sell more? A constant conundrum.

This is a rather convoluted ramble - which is, in fact, rather representative of the twists and turns inside my mind.

2 comments:

  1. Oh I feel for you! I'm in a similar situation (not quite the same). I've already made my decision but I wonder now whether I should have done "the right thing" instead.

    You forgot to add in the pro-hobby section that you are actually happy in your day job and that you actually make a difference to young people's lives (don't deny it!).

    Good luck with the decision!

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  2. Very, very true, Mary, I love my job (most aspects of it) with a passion!! Doesn't make it easier, but at least, I guess, if I end up doing either, it's all good?? :o) Sabine x

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