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Turning a Layoff into a Business Opportunity
The LATimes published a story about a project manager from Boeing, Marlene Baroli-Turati, who was laid off in 2008 when the recession hit. Instead of sulking or frantically taking a job that didn’t fit, she decided to explore her own interests and turn a hobby into income. Marlene had always made fruit jams and preserves as gifts because she enjoyed doing it.
Well, in less than two years, she has turned that marketable hobby into a $60,000 business – enough to pay for all of her family’s bills. All she did was launch an online store, called DaSweetZpot, on Etsy.com, and sell her product at area food festivals and trade shows.
I’m sure that Marlene put a lot of hard work into what she’s doing, but I love this story because it highlight how you can take a ‘marketable hobby‘ that you love and turn that hobby into a full-time income. With some hard work, passion, maybe a little luck, and some decent marketing know-how, starting your own business doesn’t have to be a huge risk. And it could be successful in a relatively short period of time.
Self-Employment Discussion:
- Do you know anything (including yourself) that has a similar story? Share in the comments!
- Do you shop or sell on Etsy? What has your experience been?
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My name is G.E. Miller and 
Heh, this spoke to me. I’ve been unemployed since 2008, and have been working for God. It’s my passion and what I enjoy. I’m not paying all the bills, but as Hank Sr. said.. but we’re still a livin’, and everything’s ok.
We don’t know each other, but a mutual friend(TS) turned me onto your site when you were building it around 2yrs or so ago. It’s come a long ways, way to go dude.
God bless,
joseph
http://www.seriousthings.com
I was laid off two years from a high tech job. I had always run a moving company on the side-working part time with my brother- and when I could not find a job I went full time into the business. It has been great not having to rely on the corporate world for my living. Running your own business is the way to go.
@ Joseph – glad you’re finding peace despite the tough circumstance.
@ Jon – great story. Would love to hear more about what it took to start your business.
I’m hoping to turn my blog into a true income stream within the next 5 years. So far I’ve made a whopping $500, but it’s a solid start…I’ve only been blogging for less than 4 months…I have nowhere to go but up, lol.
Same story on my end. The only difference is that I’ve been unemployed just for a few months. I started a company and I’m running with it. Hopefully it takes off, but it takes time. Don’t give up because you’ll make it…it just takes time.
@ BIFS – $500 in 4 months? Don’t think I had that in the first year! Hah.
@ icIncome – great to hear. Good luck!
GE, if you don’t mind link advertising, email me at budgetingfunstuff *at* gmail *dot* com and I’ll forward your info to the lady who sold me two links for 6 months for $400. Some bloggers prefer to stay away from link ads, which I completely understand. I wanted the money for a few things (car payoff and to get someone else to migrate my blog from Blogger to WordPress), so it made sense for me.
@ Budgeting – no paid links on 20somethingfinance. Trying to keep the search engine gods happy. =) Thanks though.
Interestingly enough, my mother has a recipe for an egg salad, and my father has a few inventions.
Wonder if I should encourage them to explore their hobbies. Both are pretty marketable…
@ Aury – egg salad sandwiches? I’m a target customer, sing me up.