Back when I started my microbusiness I really disliked my day job and was looking for a way out. Now I’m in a job I love and as much as I love being creative, I don’t want to leave the rat race anymore. For a long time after I got the current job I held onto the idea that if I wasn’t still trying to run my hobbies like a business, I wasn’t doing it ‘right’.

This year has been a turning point against that mindset.

I took the plunge back in May when I decided to take my art and eBook adventuring back to a Hobby level. Then I won a thirty minute coaching session from Téa over at Story Bistro and talking with her really cemented the fact that I’m doing this out of love instead of profit motive. (Not that the two are mutually exclusive!)

So what is the first step in making this a real hobby again?

Pricing.

The general idea behind my current pricing in the Etsy store is: Fees + Taxes + Materials + Labor + Profit = Price

My new idea is: Fees + (Materials x 2) = Price

I’m no longer including Profit or Taxes for obvious reasons, but I’m also not including a Labor because of the shift in how I’m looking at things. The time I spend making things (aka Labor) is now ‘Me having fun making Art’ not ‘Me working to earn X dollars’.

The (Materials x 2) is so that for every horse or magnet I sell I can turn around and make two more. It also helps cover overhead costs that don’t directly factor into the creation of that specific model, but are needed overall. (Like a new art desk, paper and ink, or a postal scale).

With that goal in mind, I’m slowly starting to calculate proper costing for each of the items in the store, in a similar method as the one used for the small horse head magnets. Once I’m done I’ll rollout the changes to the Etsy store. I’ll have a blog post on that and everything done by the end of January if all goes well.

Onwards to new adventures! 🙂