Monetising Your Personal Skills

I've often come across people possessing great proficiency in cooking, illustration, video editing, art etc. looking for a way to monetise the skills they possess but having no idea how to. Converting your skills into a business can be tricky as businesses require a steady plan, dedication and confidence in your personal skills. So if you're looking to earn some cash out of your skills, here are some tips you can follow.

KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOOD AT

It's important to evaluate how good you are at something before stepping into making a business out of it. Test it out on people who would give you constructive feedback and criticism. Secondly, find out if you're passionate about the skill you're trying to monetise. You can be a person with many skills but you need to find the one skill that drives you the most. It's a business after all and once it's out there you need to have the drive to continue it.

KNOW YOUR MARKET

Understand the demand for a product you're trying to sell. This is crucial as most business die out for misunderstanding how the people around them operate, thinking if the product is out there, they'll buy it. Sometimes understanding whether or not a market exists for a product can be tricky. For that, you can create a survey relating to the product you're trying to sell and check the response. Make sure that your survey is organised and plan out what you want to know from them. If people say yes, then you have a market you can operate on. Don't give up on your product if people respond negatively to the product, understand why and improve your product.

SET AN OBJECTIVE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

What's your business? Is it goods based or is it a service that caters to people's day to day needs? It's time to ask yourself which purpose/need of the masses your product serves. If you can't link back your business to your objective, you can't convince people that they need the product you're trying to sell. A good way to find an objective is to ask yourself which problem your product solves and if it's not a problem, which need it caters to.

PLANNING IS KEY

I urge you not to jump to open a Facebook page before you ask yourself questions like—

1.            What is your budget for the production of the product?

2.            Have you set the price for the product and is it affordable?

3.            How would you market your product?

4.            Do you need help running the page?

If you don't have the answers to these questions, it might not be the wisest thing to establish the page just yet.

KNOW YOUR COMPETITION, LEARN FROM THEM

It isn't uncommon to find people with established businesses in your field of interest. They might have several thousand likes or more but it's important not to get intimidated by that. Rather, try and learn what they did right and how they did it. Find their mistakes-learn from them, go through their products and see what you would've done differently, take inspiration but don't copy. This experience will offer you the unique perspective you'd need to spearhead in your business.

CONSULT PEOPLE IN THE RELATED FIELD

Find people who've flourished in the field of your interest, ask them the do's and don'ts. This will better prepare you on what to expect in the future and how to deal with adversities if there are any.

Nazifa is a paranoid teen who is a strong believer that melted cheese is the solution to all life's problems. Fight her at nazifa45678@gmail.com