15 tips to start earning money doing what you love, from people who have done it

Jason Fitzgerald / Strength Running

What if you could chuck it all and support yourself on your own terms, doing something you truly care about?

It's possible, and we can prove it.

Here, 15 entrepreneurs share their best advice for veering off the beaten path and building an income doing something you love.

Try not to quit your job before you start your business

Cat LeBlanc built her career as an online business coach after leaving a position in investment banking. However, she wouldn't recommend others do it in the same order.

She advises:

"I started my business in September 2013 after emigrating from Germany to Melbourne, Australia. I had an extremely stressful job in investment banking where I worked over 80 hours a week. Starting a business on the side just wasn’t possible, so I had to quit to make time to start the business.

"In my first month of business I earned $297. It was the sweetest and most terrifying $297 I’d ever earned, but as you can imagine, it didn’t go far.

"It is common that your income will be sporadic at first. You want to be prepared financially to handle this, which in most cases means staying at the day job until you genuinely no longer need it."

Read her full story.

Be consistent from day one

Despite beginning his career in consulting and accounting, Jason Fitzgerald never stopped running. Then, he became a full-time virtual running coach, earning over $10,000 a month.  

He advises:

"From the day I published my first post, I published two articles per week, every week. It didn't matter if it was Christmas or my honeymoon, it was a consistent schedule. That goes not only for the publication of articles, but also reaching out to other bloggers to build relationships and to coaches asking for opportunities to write guest articles.

"I've seen a lot of people who want to have some type of online business and work at it for a month, and then get too busy and lose steam. You can't build a business if you're not constantly in it. If you're not thinking about it every day, you probably don't have the chops to get it done."

Read his full story.

Focus on the value you can bring to others

Former Lululemon executive Sarah Kaler changed career paths after collapsing from exhaustion, and started her own business coaching women entrepreneurs.

She advises:

"For me, the difference between being passionate and purposeful is that purpose serves others. Passion can be a little more self-serving — not that it's not beautiful and wonderful, but how you're going to build your business and create momentum and resonate with other people is when you're being of service to others. If you're truly serving others, you're going to connect."

Read her full story.