Since childhood, I’ve been a bookworm. My all-time favorite books include a mix of non-fiction and finance. However, this didn’t stop me from transforming my biggest hobby into My Passion, the top-2 e-book platform globally.
The platform already has over 1,000 books, and every two weeks we release another 2–3 bestsellers. For entrepreneurs wondering if their passion could become their next startup, here’s exactly how I did it — and the framework that can work for you too.
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Define your ‘Why’
86% of people who started a hobby-based business report higher job satisfaction. But here’s what they don’t tell you: satisfaction doesn’t equal success, and most hobby businesses never scale beyond side hustles.
Don’t quit your job just because you read how Zuckerberg started Facebook as a hobby project for Harvard students, or how Boeing turned his love of aircraft into a billion-dollar company. Instead, consider WHY you truly desire to launch your startup.
Here’s how I discovered mine.
For me, reading was more than just entertainment. This is what shaped my worldview.
Books showed me the world beyond survival — I read about Van Gogh, artists and creators who transcended their environment. This sparked the belief that my background doesn’t define me — a mantra I carry to this day.
I didn’t just want to open a bookstore, launch an app or write a book for money. My goal was to empower writers globally. Ultimately, storytelling became the DNA of my startup, Holywater, which unlocks people’s potential by combining their imagination with AI capabilities, from books to streaming and AI-powered series.
Now, writers worldwide share stories and gain recognition through My Passion. Moreover, books evolve into My Drama’s vertical series with a global reach. We are also developing the PYSHY (WRITE) contest with Vivat Publishing, which creates real earning opportunities for writers.
We got 444 submissions, 3 were picked for publication and 1 was adapted for a top-performing vertical series.
You can simply monetize your hobby, for example, by selling your books, paintings or clay crafts. Or you can turn it into a global startup. Your why and scale make all the difference.
Connect your passion with a real-world solution
Your passion must translate into value for others, not just personal satisfaction. The reason 42% of startups fail is misreading market demand. Simply put, founders spent money and time launching a product that no one needed.
Identify what other people’s problems or needs you can solve by turning your hobby into a startup. Consider how successful founders made this connection. Etsy transformed the love of handmade crafts into a global marketplace for unique goods. AeroPress turned one coffee enthusiast’s quest for the perfect brew into a portable solution for coffee lovers worldwide. These founders connected their passions with unmet market needs, creating products that solved real problems and resonated with millions.
Through my reading journey, I realized a fundamental gap: people love stories, but they lack the tools and support to tell them well. Writer’s block, pacing issues and structural gaps limit creativity, and working on a book alone is exhausting. After all, professional storytellers have entire teams of editors, plot consultants and visual artists.
Launching My Passion together with Anatolii Kasianov, we applied AI to democratize storytelling support, giving every writer access to plot development, visual elements, structure recommendations and pacing advice. Support that was previously only available to well-known authors is now available to all creators.
Start with a small community
Ask yourself: Is this hobby large enough to involve other people? Your passion requires a community to become a sustainable business.
Many great businesses started as small communities that later scaled. For instance, Reddit began as a platform for niche interests and grew into a global discussion hub, and Duolingo was a small beta community of language learners testing early lessons. Nowadays, you can easily build a community on social media and get feedback there. It’s a great chance to get like-minded people together and test out your idea.
The beauty of starting small is that it allows you to validate demand without massive investment. You can quickly discover whether others share your passion and face similar challenges.
Related: How a Side Hustle Led to a $1 Million+ Passive Income Stream
Don’t let your passion turn into a nightmare
Understand the stakes and pressure that come with monetising your hobby. When your livelihood depends on what once brought you pure joy, the dynamic changes completely. Deadlines replace spontaneity. Market demands can override creative instincts. Financial pressure can drain the original magic. The result: burnout, which affects more than half of founders.
What keeps me going? Again, books. Not for market research, but for myself. Besides, I have other passions. For example, I meditate every day and share insights on LinkedIn. It is extremely important for startup founders not to get stuck only in work, especially if their hobby and startup are now combined.
The line between hobby and business disappears when your work helps others experience the same transformation that once changed you. When writers tell us our platform helped them overcome creative blocks they’d struggled with for years, I know we’ve moved beyond monetizing a hobby — we’re scaling transformation.
Your greatest obsession might just be your greatest business opportunity, but only if you can preserve what made you fall in love with it in the first place.
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