How to Tell if a Passion Is a Business or a Hobby

If you’re multi-passionate, you already know the drill: every time you get excited about something new, your brain whispers, “This could be it. This could be the one.”

That’s how I once convinced myself I was going to become the next big skincare mogul.

Fresh out of a bad breakup (apparently my coping mechanism is launching businesses), I threw myself into natural skincare. I even signed up for a certificate course in Cork, Ireland, to learn proper formulation.

Suddenly I was in deep:
✨ Studying formulas and ingredient balance
✨ Handing out creams to colleagues for feedback
✨ Dreaming about logos, packaging, and branding
✨ Cold-pitching six hotels and a couple of spa's, one even agreed to trial my cleanser and moisturizer

For a brief moment, I was sure this was my Estée Lauder era.

Then reality hit:

• I didn’t actually want to mass-produce skincare.

• I didn’t want to spend my life in that industry.

• I just loved experimenting, learning, and creating.

👉 The truth? I wasn’t building an empire. I was chasing a dopamine high.

That’s the gift and the curse of being multi-passionate: curiosity fuels us, but without discernment, it can trick us into turning every hobby into a side hustle.

So how do you know if it’s a business or a hobby?

Here’s the filter I use now:

1. Energy check – Would I still want to do this after the initial rush wears off?

2. Audience check – Is there someone out there who actually needs and wants this?

3. Money check – Could this realistically pay me without making me resent the work?

4. Joy check – Do I love this enough to let it stay “just for me” if it doesn’t make money?

Eight times out of ten, the answer is: it’s a hobby. And that’s okay.

Because not every passion is meant to pay your bills. Some are meant to nourish you. To keep you curious. To bring joy without pressure.

These days, I give every “million-dollar idea” a week before acting on it. By day two, I’m usually over it. By day seven, I know if it’s real… or just another shiny dopamine hit.

And if it’s just a hobby? I let it be. I can still make my own skincare, paint for fun, or write poetry, but that doesn’t mean I have to turn all of it into a business.

Because here’s the real power move as a multi-passionate: learning to choose which passions you want to monetize, and which ones are simply here to light you up.

👉 Over to you: What’s a passion you thought would be a business, but turned out to be “just” a hobby?