Hobby into a legitimate side business

[Charney]

Has anyone here successfully turned their hobby into a legitimate side business—something that generates modest profit while also allowing for write-offs and tax advantages?

I have a fairly large fish room and am planning to breed stingrays primarily for enjoyment, but I also have the capacity to grow out fish for resale and propagate terrestrial plants.

Curious to hear what others have done that’s actually worked—what setups, structures, or approaches made it worthwhile?

 

[tomojsg]

i used to once upon a time lol

had 10x 40g breeders 2x 180g & a 240g
also some totes with plants and wood.

in the end it burned me out; and i wasnt enjoying my hobby anymore...
so i stopped.

my systems were all drilled on the bottom for a drain for fast w/c's but filtered
individually. every tank was bare bottom with nothing in it to keep water
parameters pristine as possible. racks were built myself using 2x4s and 4x4s. lights
were cheap shop lights. the 180s and 240 had used fx5s on em plumbed directly into
the tanks along with a diy sump and a closed loop for circulation. the 40 breeders
had hobs on each tank and the totes only had a single sponge filter with live plants

bought everything wholesale/used to keep costs low as possible most items/tanks
i already had laying around.

my biggest expense was prolly the dehumidifier as my living room was gettin hot and humid lol
had to always have the windows open and the dehumidifier on

imo keep it simple, enjoyable and minimal so it doesnt become a 2nd job

 

[danotaylor]

It’s very difficult to compete with the big fish farms pricing on wholesale. I’ve had several friends in Australia and here in the US give it a red hot go and all have given up in the business model d/t inability to move enough stock thru private sales to make the effort and time worthwhile, or, produce enough fish to secure consistent wholesale customers. Some of my friends tryna “live the dream” got so burnt out & frustrated they left the hobby altogether.
I have been breeding and selling for pleasure, not profit, for many years, working w a small handful of groups at a time. The breeding and raising is what gives me joy in fish keeping. I have tried several times to just do nice displays of non-breeding fish but inevitably end up back w breeding groups again.
Currently working on a blend. Turning my 500gal into an AUL & fire eel display, but have a Moba & tropheus red bishop group going as well.
Do what gives you joy. Be under no illusion that breeding as a legit side hustle as a hobbyist will produce the economic rewards tha make the time & cost viable. It is very time consuming and whilst you may break even here and there, there’s just not big money in it.
Cheers mate

 

[Cal Amari]

I would suggest considering your location and who you plan to sell to. If it is hobbyists, and fishkeepers then each sale takes more effort but you get higher prices. If it's to supply local shops then I'd suggest a visit and discussion with them on what they would regularly purchase and their standard practices. For example, there's only 1 LFS and 2 chain stores within an hour of me. I've known the owner of the LFS from shopping there for a couple decades, and through no planning but simple curiosity have learned that they offer 50% of retail and usually only in store credit, not cash to purchase livestock locally. And usually they don't want fry, they want fish over an inch. So depending on what you can breed, and the number of spawns you can get in a year, and time to grow them a bit etc. and the rarity and relative retail cost of what you can breed, it seems unlikely to turn much of a profit unless you dedicate a lot of time space and planning to it. More likely to cover some of the cost of your hobby rather than produce an income.

 

[Gourami Swami]

I would find a niche and breed things that aren't very commonly available. All the more common things will be cheap and plentiful from the commercial wholesalers like dano mentioned. Stingrays could be a good one. Then build a social media presence around it and grow the page so you can sell to people all over the country/world with shipping. Trying to sell locally to LFS's and hobbyists probably won't be enough customers to keep a business going.

 

[jjohnwm]

My comment is a very general one, relating to the whole idea of taking any casual interest or hobby and trying to turn it into a business.

I've tried exactly that a couple of times in my life...not with aquariums...and it always ended up with me not enjoying that thing anymore, or at least not to the extent that I had before. Sure, I've heard all the same tired homilies about it..."Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life!"...and similar BS. IMHO, turning anything you love into a chore guarantees you won't love it for very long afterwards.

I do believe that there is some tiny percentage of people who manage to make it work, and I'm happy for them. But overall, if I truly enjoy doing something, I don't want to do it because I need to; once it becomes work, once you must do it...it stops being fun.

It's bad enough when you allow a hobby to outgrow your passion for it; we see it all the time with aquariums, where people will either stop doing other things they love because of the time they are forced to spend with their overly-large collections of aquariums...or, just as bad, when they start to neglect those aquariums and they turn into dirty poorly-maintained quagmires full of unhealthy fish.

But when the hobby turns into a source of income upon which you rely...well, that's the kiss of death.

I produce just enough fish that my hobby partially pays for itself. I buy very few new fish...my ongoing aquarium expenses are minimal, the biggest being fish food. I am successful at deluding myself...most of the time...that the electricity consumed is free, and that my time and labour is worth nothing. As a retiree...that's pretty accurate!

But if I woke up tomorrow and decided that I needed more money to make ends meet, I would not even consider getting it by breeding fish, or by "monetizing" any of my other interests. I'd go back to work in my trade. No, I don't "enjoy" it...never did...but I can tolerate it. I didn't and don't expect or even hope for my day job to provide a sense of satisfaction or to fill my life with joy and purpose. That's what hobbies are for. A job earns money, and money pays for the other things in life.