How to: hobbies & side projects
Q&A with Amy Collins, Pinhead
How did you turn your hobby into a viable business?
I was working in retail, and literally started doing it because I hadn’t done any artwork for years and years, and it’s what I was best at in school. It was a little depressing that I hadn’t picked up a pen or pencil in so long, and I was interested in pins and knew that I needed a project. I’m not the best at thinking up inspiration from my head, so this gave me a bit of focus. It’s good to have something outside of work. Especially retail. Retail can be pretty boring and I’d done it for so many years.
Prior to doing pins I was doing Beats and Pieces (an online radio show) so I’d already realised that I needed something else to add a little bit of purpose. I didn’t start Pinhead as a business, I started it as a hobby and it took on a life of its own. It built up momentum and the potential came as a surprise to me. Maybe it wouldn’t have worked if I’d set out on a mission to make a living from selling pins. It’s almost the fact that I didn’t push it too hard that opportunities that came about.
What was your first product that gained traction and visibility?
I’d done about three or four pins, all pop culture stuff like Cat/Dog and Breaking Bad and a couple of others. I was working a day job in Mattas, a world food shop in Liverpool, at the time and they asked me — almost as a favour — to design one for their business. They’d been going for over 30 years and had a nice organic following, so it was a memento for their ‘fans’, if you like, to take away. That was nice for me personally, but on the back of that, other businesses started to get in touch. I wasn’t set up for B2B deals or bulk ordering at that stage, because I thought the Mattas pin would be a one off.
As soon as people started getting in touch and requesting hundreds of pins at a time, I realised there was a market. That was the start of it really, that Mattas pin. The positive reaction that I saw from people buzzing off the pins and the genuine enquiries, it dawned on me that this could be a business.
It was also nice as a designer, because one of my main struggles is that I don’t have a specific style. I find it difficult to stick to one style. A lot of people I follow on Instagram, you look at their artwork and instantly know who it is. I’ve always felt like I was never a good artist because I never had a defined style. What I realised was that actually by doing jobs for different people, it meant that my versatility and lack of a defined style was a positive. I can be given a brief and I will put my heart into it and know that every pin will look different. That suits me. I don’t know if it’s a commitment thing, or what.
At what point did the balance switch from day-job taking priority, to realising you could push Pinhead as a viable business?
I left Mattas to work at a restaurant and be the manager of an organic vegan market, and it was a terrible disaster. I walked out after a month and found myself in limbo. I’d been working 60 hour weeks for ages before this, then did more of the same in the run-up to this restaurant and market launch. By the time I left I was emotionally and physically exhausted and it took for all that to happen to make me realise that I wasn’t enjoying retail anymore and needed a change. I’d been doing it forever, I could do it with my eyes shut, and it wasn’t a challenge anymore. I’m not a ‘yes’ person and sometimes struggle being told what to do, which — when you work for yourself — you can put that to some good use.
The frustrations that come with working for someone else… when you have positive ideas and solutions but lack the authority to implement them — that’s the stuff that would keep me awake at night. I don’t have those restrictions now. It also means I’m the one who benefits or loses out based on every decision I make, which is a huge responsibility, but I think I can live with my own risk taking.
I decided I needed to use my brain a little bit more because I was floundering. I applied for university for a second time after dropping out when I was 18, and enrolled to do marketing. In the time that it took me to start the course, Pinhead had started to gain traction. I was getting a lot more enquiries, had released more designs online, opened an Etsy shop, which meant a lot more people could see my work.
I didn’t intend on doing my degree to help my business, I was looking for a new career path. However, whilst I’ve been at uni I’ve decided that I may never have to work for anybody ever again, if I can. If anything, my degree is now more a personal challenge, to prove to myself that I can do it. Almost the side-project to Pinhead.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to do something on the side, but is hesitant about following it through?
If it’s going to be strictly on the side, which takes away a lot of the pressure, my advice is to start small — particularly with financial investment. My start-up costs were about £300 of my own money, and I’ve never put any money into it again; the first project funded the second project, which funded the third project and so on. This meant that there was no financial risk hanging over my head.
I would say ‘don’t fucking buy a cafe as a side-project’. Just think small to begin with. It’s almost like doing a sample, maybe at some point you may need to invest a little more. I’m at the point where I need to invest a little more now that the business has grown from those initial products. I’m now looking more at insurance and contracts, marketing budgets etc. to take Pinhead to the next level. It’ll be nice to be able to get experts to help me.
And just do it. Do it, and ask for as much as help as you can. Everyone around you doing similar stuff will give advice — they’ve all had to take it at some point and they’re unlikely to turn you down. Nobody sets off doing something without needing help from somebody, and if they forget that and don’t pay it forward in some way then fuck them.
Even though it’s probably not the most financially and time efficient, I always try and meet my clients face-to-face. It’s good service from the customer’s point of view and helps that they can put a face to the brand and the Instagram page. And it’s good for me personally as it gets me out of the house and allows me to use other resources around me, such as the Women’s Org and the Merseyside Etsy team — a community of people all in the same boat. I’ve made friends and managed to bounce ideas off of people and get advice.
Even Facebook online groups are handy, although I’d rather have face-to-face communication. There are times when you need a quick answer, and these communities usually come through pretty fast and help get you out of a bind. Even if you’re starting out, get involved. Just because you’re starting out doesn’t mean you can’t add anything or contribute — everyone has been in your position. Everyone has been at the starting point, and needed help with photography, or copy, or other little bits. Don’t let that stop you.
