Hobbies can literally pay off for some

By Frank Witsil
Detroit Free Press

Sybil Williams, a nurse at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital, spends much of her time off designing beautiful jewelry — necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Now, she hopes to make her leisure pursuit pay off by selling her creations.

Williams, 49, has yet to turn a profit. But she said she wants to turn her jewelry-making hobby into gold.

People who turn their hobbies into small businesses earn from a few hundred dollars a year, a little something extra to cover the cost of the hobby, to thousands, enough to be a primary source of income.

It is difficult to determine just how many people are turning to their hobbies to earn more money, said Brian Headd, an economist with the Small Business Administration in Washington. But when the economy struggles, the number of self-employed people tends to increase.

The number of self-employed people in the United States grew from 9.3 million in January to 10.1 million in November, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Williams said she has sold about $1,700 worth of her pieces so far to friends and friends of friends. She started her business last summer and estimates it cost her about $3,000.

Williams plans to sell her wares to retailers, such as shops in Royal Oak and Ann Arbor, Mich., to make more. At the rate she is going, she expects to be profitable within a year.

"I'd earn much more if I worked an overtime shift at my nursing job," she said, laughing. "But it wouldn't give me the same satisfaction of making something with my hands."