Part-Time And Hobby Biz Trends
1. Technology is reducing production costs in a number of industries, allowing part-time and hobby businesses to compete in industries that used to be limited to bigger companies. Digital photography, for example, has substantially cut the costs of taking, developing and editing photographs and has led to a boom in the number of part-time photographers.
2. The reach of the Internet greatly expands the addressable market for part-time and hobbyist businesses and provides them new ways to find customers – and for customers to find them. In our case we found Silverman, which simply would not have happened prior to the broadband Internet.
3. Payment and back office systems allow the smallest of businesses to easily bill and collect. We used Paypal to buy Silverman’s photo, which was priced in British Pounds. Even 5 years ago it is unlikely we would have bothered to purchase this photo due to payment problems.
4. New middlemen are creating new small business opportunities. A wide range of intermediaries have emerged to make markets more efficient and help buyers and sellers find one another. Like iStock in photos, many of these intermediaries target part-time and hobbyist suppliers.
5. Baby boomers want to work in retirement, preferably doing things they enjoy and are different from their existing careers. Part-time and hobby businesses fit their needs. Silverman, for example, is a baby boomer with a regular job and career who plans to continue his photography business well into retirement.
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