How to Get Paid for What You Already Do for Free

Say you've thought about starting your own business, but you haven't figured out what exactly that business is or what it would look like. Ask yourself, "What would I do for free?" This question is posed in Thomas O'Malia's book "The Entrepreneurial Journey." It's a critical question to answer when deciding what type of venture to begin, so put on your thinking hat, and let the ideas begin.

Brainstorm

-- Hobbies. When you think about what you'd do without pay, the first things that will likely jump to mind are your hobbies. At this stage, don't think about what is realistically possible as a business, just jot down everything.

-- Interests. What kinds of websites or articles do you read? Do you subscribe to publications or RSS feeds, and if so, what do they cover? Maybe you have a passion for food, travel, race cars, shopping, gardening, history or wine. Write down the types of topics you tend to read about or watch on television.

-- Volunteer work. If you volunteer, it's likely in a place or for a cause about which you're enthusiastic. Do you spend Saturday mornings at the animal shelter, or do you visit a home for the elderly? What do you enjoy about your volunteer work, and what skills do you use when you are doing it?

-- Expertise. Sometimes it's hard to extract our skills from the daily grind. But your hidden passion may be in what you do regularly without much thought. Do you advise friends and family on how to decorate their homes? Do you send friends recipes? On the flip side, for what kinds of advice do friends and family come to you? It could be relationship advice, styling tips or ideas on where to take their kids on a rainy day. Whatever it is, you are considered a source for that subject.

-- How you spend your time. If you have trouble coming up with ideas, consider how you spend your time outside of work. It may help to spend a week or two writing down what you do during weekday evenings and on the weekend, as well as how much time you spend doing it. You may spend two hours every night cooking, which could mean it's a key interest, because not everyone would do that. Maybe you spend your nights searching for the latest deals on hiking gear, because hiking is your hobby. In that case, you'd add all hours devoted to anything related to hiking up at the end of the week to determine the total.

Whatever you do outside of work, record it and how much time you've done it. Then total related items at the end of the week. This should give you a good idea of how you spend your free time.

Research and Design

Once you've narrowed down your list and determined what you spend the most time on -- or what you'd rather spend your time on -- begin researching. Conduct simple online searches to find out about other businesses that do what you're considering doing. Take notes about their processes and how much they charge.

-- Talk. Start floating your idea among close friends and family. Keep in mind there will be many naysayers, but don't let them deter you. It's helpful to see the pros and cons of starting a business, but in the end, it's up to you. You don't need to invent something or be the next big thing. You need to do what you want to do better than the other companies out there. It may simply be the way you market yourself, the way you operate or a new way to reach clients.

-- Find and schedule discussions with other entrepreneurs in complementary businesses. They could end up being partners down the road and can offer you invaluable advice as you start out.

-- Draft a plan. You don't need a business degree to write a business plan. Once you feel you've gathered a good amount of data, begin composing your strategy document. It should identify the type of business, the problem it aims to fix, what you will offer to solve that problem, the types of clients you envision, a rough sketch of pricing and how and to whom you will market the business.

Once you've become excited about your ideas, don't wait to have a perfect proposal in place. Get out there and start talking to potential partners and clients, who will help you adapt and perfect your initial ideas. Let the momentum take you forward as you develop your business. If you tire of the idea or run out of energy, it may be time to go back to your brainstorm list and rediscover what else you might do for free. There's bound to be something in there that you'd spend countless hours on and can turn into a business.

Marcelle Yeager is the president of Career Valet, which delivers personalized career navigation services. Her goal is to enable people to recognize skills and job possibilities they didn't know they had to make a career change or progress in their current career. She worked for more than 10 years as a strategic communications consultant, including four years overseas. Marcelle holds an MBA from the University of Maryland.