Many people, myself included, worry that making money from a hobby will ruin the experience. It doesn’t. Not if you do it right.
1. Set time limits
Don’t make it a full-time job, at least not initially. When it was entirely for fun, and might have cost you money, how much time did you spend? Start there. If you’re successful, there will be pressure to devote more, but you can stay as casual as you wish. You can ease into longer commitments, on a trial basis, to make sure it won’t break the engagement.
2. Identify specific likes/dislikes
What parts of the activity do you love? What would you rather not deal with? Once you start earning an income, do you want to manage the accounting? Would you rather hire a bookkeeper? Do you enjoy building websites or creating marketing materials? You don’t have to be psychic, try anything for a while. If you hate it, pay someone who doesn’t. It’s also worth considering the price of your dislike, even if ridiculously high. Worst case, it gives you the financial freedom to be more selective in the future.
3. Cap your ambitions
You don’t need to get rich, but do you want to break even? Cut your costs by half? Make enough to pay for another activity?
How easy is the goal to achieve? Would it take significantly more time than you were ready to commit to point 1?
Money can taint many things, but it doesn’t have to. I can also become a resource for further growth and mastery.