Column · hobby or business
Does the activity fund the next round of itself? A business takes in more than it consumes, including the cost of the person doing it. A hobby consumes the difference quietly, usually funded by something else.
Because calling it a business creates obligations: pricing, delivery, support, refunds. Calling it a hobby keeps it enjoyable and optional. Both are legitimate choices; the failure is making one while describing it as the other.
A stranger pays without being persuaded by you personally. At that point the thing is producing value through an artifact rather than through a relationship.
Raise the price until it covers the work, and remove the parts that only exist because you enjoy them. Not because enjoyment is wrong, but because the customer is not paying for it.
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