How to Turn Your Passion Project Into a Fully-Fledged Business

Why is it that people assume that your passion project is simply that, a passion? If you’re seeing great potential in your side hustle, it could be time to take the leap and turn this passion project into a fully-fledged business. But before you draft your resignation letter to terminate your day job, you should make sure that you are set up and ready to go, so that the first couple of months of your new venture is productive, rather than simply going through all the admin and learning when you aren’t earning a dime. Without further ado, let’s learn how we can turn your passion into a fully-fledged business.

Get the right technical support

When it was a passion, you might have thought all those manual tasks and workarounds were part of the buzz. If this is to be your full-time gig, you may want to reassess that notion and get the technical support that is really going to assist you in growing your business. Single touch payroll is a new innovation that makes paying workers and complying with the ATO so much easier than it once was. You can also use the one provider to also manage your small business accounting and the many bits and pieces that come with it. If you are going to build a website to supercharge the one you have, you will have to register your domain and find a website provider that makes sense for you and your needs. You should also register your business name through government channels, and register for GST if you believe you will be earning above the stated threshold.

Write a business plan

A business plan may have seemed like overkill when this was simply a hobby, but now that you are investing your time, money and future into this venture – you will have to write a business plan. In the plan, you will want to capture the business identity, your offering, who your target audience is and what you want to achieve in the next one, three and five years. The more time and effort you put into this business plan, the greater use it will be to you in times when you are not sure whether an opportunity is right, and it will also help you in avoiding ventures that are not fruitful. If you haven’t done this before, it may seem complicated, so consider finding a business coach or mentor to assist in this critical element of your early business years.

Decide what your communication method will be, and who it will reach

Okay, just because you know that this is now a fully-fledged business, does not mean your audience and future customers/clients will. You will want to have a think about how you will communicate with your audience, and what sort of content or offers will they need and expect. Email marketing is a highly effective communication method for your CRM, and so are social and advertising. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to be absolutely everywhere, as you should only feature on platforms and environments in which your customers will be. You may be a whiz on Instagram, but is that really how you are going to tap into the manufacturing market? If in doubt, look at some of the businesses or operators that offer a similar product/service as you, and see where they are. This might be a useful way to guide further research.

There is a lot to take in here, and you are going to feel bamboozled quite frequently for quite a while. Getting the technical pieces up and running first will significantly ease the stress, and will allow you to make better strides quicker with those pesky admin tasks covered.