GREAT 83 IDEA: Turn Your Hobby into a Successful Business

Many hobbies evolve into successful small businesses. Even the most offbeat pastimes can prove profitable. For example, Roz Watnemo and Sue Meier turned their passion for an obscure form of Norwegian embroidery into a successful retail and mail- order business. Nordic Needle, based in Fargo, North Dakota, has grown from a 400-square-foot storefront to a 9,000-square-foot space with 24 employees.

The 35-year-old company has been honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration for boosting exports from North Dakota. Nordic Needle's 50,000 retail customers live in 600 countries. They can purchase about 19,000 items via mail order, in person, or online.

I met Roz and Sue a few years ago while visiting Fargo to speak at a conference. They told me they never thought that signing up for a class in Hardanger embroidery, a traditional form of white thread-on-white fabric stitchery used to decorate tablecloths and aprons, would change their lives.

Embroidery is very popular in the Plains states, where winters are long and cold and people seek out something fun and productive to pass the time. Tired of driving to Minnesota or sending away to Norway for supplies, the partners decided to buy and sell a few Hardanger necessities. Thinking they'd sell a few items to friends, they opened a tiny shop in downtown Fargo.

About 13 years later, when they were—bad pun—bursting at the seams, they moved into a suburban shopping plaza. The bright, cozy store is a stitcher's paradise. Every inch of space is filled with yards of fabric, rainbows of thread, patterns, samplers, and sewing kits.

“I know a lot of partnerships don't go well, but Roz and I are very different from each other, and we complement each other,” said Meier, who is retired but still involved in the business.

Watnemo, the Hardanger expert, produces new pattern books each year. She designs by hand, but relies on a software program to create the actual pattern graphs. Most years, hardcore fans of Nordic Needle gather for a retreat in Fargo.

Across the country, former real estate broker Sally Wright Bacon turned her love of beads and thread into a lucrative one-of-a-kind jewelry business.

In 2010, she stopped renting space at craft fairs and opened Oodles, a boutique in the sleepy town of Orford, New Hampshire.

Bacon never intended to be a jewelry designer. A friend took her to a bead store as a way to help her overcome the paralyzing grief she felt after her 16-year-old son, Aaron, died of starvation in 1994 while participating in a wilderness boot camp for teens.

“I was on the verge of ending it all,” said Bacon. “I had never been in a bead store. I wandered around and became fascinated by the beads.” She took it as a good omen when “Wind Beneath My Wings,” was playing in the store because she and Aaron loved that song. “My son had sung it to me many times, and it was the song we played at his funeral.”

Bacon started beading that weekend and hasn't stopped.

She designs elaborate rosaries and dramatic necklaces made with African trade beads and chunky, rare semiprecious stones. One of her special rosaries was presented to Pope John Paul II. “When I'm in my studio, I'm just so centered,” said Bacon. “It's all about the beads. They have traveled continents to get to me.”

Check out her work on her web site, www.sallywrightbacon.com, and visit Oodles in Orford, New Hampshire.

Here are some tips for turning your hobby into a small business:

• Look for others who share your passion and connect with them to see what they are doing.
• Attend a hobby or craft trade show to check out the trends and competition.
• Subscribe to magazines and newsletters that cover your hobby.
• Find out if you can rent the publication's or web site's e-mail list. Do a test mailing to promote your best product.
• Start small. Don't quit your job.
• Check with your accountant about the IRS rules on tax deductions for hobbies versus businesses. If you don't make any money doing what you love, it's not a business.