Starting a loss making business - is this the right thing to do?

[fay144]

Hi All,

I've been making jewellery more or less all my life, and have spent the last 5 years doing evening classes in various silversmithing techniques, and building up my home workshop.

I view this as a hobby. I work in IT full time, and tbh, quite enjoy it.

I've sold a few pieces of work when people have approached me, but I've never looked out opportunities to sell my jewellery.

However, I've got to the point where I feel I now have a "style" and a clear idea of the sort of stuff I like to make, and I'd like to take it further, and try and get my work into a shop or two, and set up a website.

I've done some reading, and it appears that if I'm going to have an online shop, then I need to set up as a sole trader, and run it as a proper business. This seems exciting, rather than daunting to me, but I'm wondering if it's really the right thing to do?

The thing is, even if my jewellery would sell like hotcakes (unlikely!) I am not going to be able to devote enough time to this to make large volumes of work, so any profit that I make is always going to be minimal, and likely reinvested back into tools, development of new designs, etc. I'm sure I'll end up spending more than I make, which I'm happy to do - I feel like I spend a fortune at cooksons at the moment, and I don't sell anything!

What I'm really looking for is a self-funding hobby, rather than a business. So is it right to start it as a business? I'm been reading about crackdowns on online trading, so don't want to risk incurring any fines for not registering, but I can't help but think that this isn't really a business.

I would appreciate any advice!

Fay