The business I love to run doesn't make much money. At what point does my business become self indulgent?

Not all gain from your effort can be measured monetarily. Do not be blinded into thinking "the market" is the final word on the value of your actions. For example - to be extreme - Its hard to put a monetary measure on convincing someone not to kill themselves.

You will probably gain no income yourself from such an action directly or indirectly. Nevertheless we regard such a thing as having a high positive value. However - it's important to earn enough money for your family to live and hopefully thrive.

If this business is your only source of income then you may need to work out how to expand its ability to earn more income - or diversify and spend less time on it and gather funds in another way. The tax departments of each country generally have a metric they apply to an individual's "business" to determine if it is a "business" or a "hobby". The difference is defined by how long it has been making a loss.

A business cannot sustain a loss for very long. It has to make money to survive. Whereas a hobby can lose money indefinitely.

Perhaps you could use this metric to determine if your business is really a hobby and so free yourself to treat it as such and find another way to earn money. This metric in no way implies that a hobby is somehow less meaningful or useful than a business. Its a purely pecuniary distinction.

Perhaps it's related to your concern that what you are doing is "self indulgent". This is quite a negative term. I suggest you not be so hard on yourself about it.

Try to remove the emotional aspects of your questions so you can try to simplify and get a clear view of the problem you are trying to solve. Is there a business mentor you could ask for advice. Many towns have organizations of mentors who will not judge you - only the money making possibilities of your business.

Best wishes.

Not all gain from your effort can be measured monetarily. Do not be blinded into thinking "the market" is the final word on the value of your actions. For example - to be extreme - Its hard to put a monetary measure on convincing someone not to kill themselves.

You will probably gain no income yourself from such an action directly or indirectly. Nevertheless we regard such a thing as having a high positive value. However - it's important to earn enough money for your family to live and hopefully thrive.

If this business is your only source of income then you may need to work out how to expand its ability to earn more income - or diversify and spend less time on it and gather funds in another way. The tax departments of each country generally have a metric they apply to an individual's "business" to determine if it is a "business" or a "hobby". The difference is defined by how long it has been making a loss.

A business cannot sustain a loss for very long. It has to make money to survive. Whereas a hobby can lose money indefinitely.

Perhaps you could use this metric to determine if your business is really a hobby and so free yourself to treat it as such and find another way to earn money. This metric in no way implies that a hobby is somehow less meaningful or useful than a business. Its a purely pecuniary distinction.

Perhaps it's related to your concern that what you are doing is "self indulgent". This is quite a negative term. I suggest you not be so hard on yourself about it.

Try to remove the emotional aspects of your questions so you can try to simplify and get a clear view of the problem you are trying to solve. Is there a business mentor you could ask for advice. Many towns have organizations of mentors who will not judge you - only the money making possibilities of your business.

Best wishes...

It is important to have passion for something, but it is also important to take care of your family. You are only being self indulgent If your family's bills are not paid on time, and your are not providing them with basic necessities. Look for new ways to expand your community magazine.

Make it more technological. Print is a sinking ship, so you should look for ways to expand online.

The first thing that came to my mind when you mentioned that you are passionate about this is the fact that I have 4 big dogs. I currently have 4 ex-racing greyhounds. I am very passionate about the breed and will do anything to help them out.

They cost money to feed, to care for, etc... What I get in return is satisfaction, happiness, unconditional love, enjoyment and the knowledge that I am doing some good. If this is something that you are passionate about and your passion is not taking away from your or your families welfare, I don't think that there is anything wrong with it. In fact it is probably helping you more than you know - your health, happiness and satisfaction of doing something good.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.