How Young People Are Turning Hobbies Into A Business

This post is in collaboration with AllDayPA

The way in which people work has changed dramatically over just the last couple of years. People are craving more than a 9-5, a better work life balance and carving out careers they’re truly passionate about. The Covid pandemic really gave people a chance to discover new hobbies or work on existing ones and now more people than ever are turning those hobbies into flourishing businesses.

AllDayPA recently launched a campaign to tie in with the Forbes 30 under 30 List 2022 looking at this rise of ‘young-trepeneurs’. They’ve taken 15 young entrepreneurs from the Forbes list and 15 from the Hurrun UK U30s Young Entrepreneurs 2022 list to compile an index of the 30 most successful business men and women.

Who Is On The List?

Well there’s some big names on there. Ben Francis tops the list for brand net worth with a whopping estimate of £900 million. Some of you might be wondering who Ben Francis is but if I said the brand Gymshark then you’d have a better idea. Gymshark was founded in 2012 when Francis was just 20 years old and has gone on to be a huge name in the sportwear industry. The brand recently opened its first retail store in London.

Another well-known name on the list is Steven Bartlett who, in 2022, became the youngest ever investor to appear on Dragon’s Den aged 30. Bartlett is known for being the co-founder of Social Chain – a social media marketing company. Bartlett began building Social Chain from the comfort of his own bedroom aged just 21 and considering the industry he’s in it’s no surprise he ranks near the top of the list with 15.3 million social media followers. Since the launch of Social Chain he’s also gone on to launch two more businesses.

One other well-known name to pop up on the list is Felix Kjelberg – better known as PewDiePie. The Swedish YouTuber started his channel in 2010 uploading Let’s Play videos of action and horror games. His channel took off very quickly and in 2012 it became one of the fastest growing YouTube channels. Kjelberg later diversified the content he uploads and then took a step back uploading as a hobby rather than his job. In 2022 his channel is still one of the most subscribed to and viewed channels on YouTube.

Popular Industries

While there are a wide range of industries on the list there are a few that are more popular than others. Retail and e-commerce is by far the most popular industry and makes up a third of the list. Big brands such as Pasta Evangelists and Absolute Collagen fall into this category and have a well deserved place on the list.

Fashion and sportswear is also a popular industry. As we’ve already seen Gymshark tops the list for estimated net worth but brands such as Stay Wild and TALA also features on the list. It’s nice to see fashion brands with a focus on the environment making it onto the list, Stay Wild’s designs are all produced in a zero-waste factory in London using regenerated ocean plastic.

Turning A Hobby Into A Business

As the people on this list have shown, turning a hobby into a business is not only totally doable but can lead to huge success. It’s important to remember that success won’t happen overnight though. If you’re serious about turning your hobby into a business there’s a lot to consider. To get you started AllDayPA have come up with five quick-fire tips to build your brand:

1. Create your business plan
2. Keep on networking
3. Watch your spending
4. Use your time wisely
5. Learn from your mistakes

Would you ever turn consider turning your hobby into a business? Have you already done so? Share your stories in the comments!