<prompt> Human: Im in the US and I have 1k medium interest, 8k low interest, 1k low interest and I have been working on and putting down about 800 - 1k a month. I also have a low interest student loan 7k that I make payments on. I am a highly skilled specialist but I have been taking under-employment gigs as a second job for around minimum wage, and the instability is pretty stressful. I am thinking about creating my own business as a third job, selling arts and crafts online, but the startup costs are looking to be 500 - 1,000 I am still calculating art licensing cost avenues. I plan on writing off the costs via taxes. I estimate that if my venture crashes, I might be able to recoup about 250 of that. If my products sell, it looks like I would be making a profit margin 24-35 hr.I calculated out the profit margins of other sellers in my area and it is really difficult to gauge the profitability. I estimate that my competitors are making yearly 6100, 1800, 13000 !, 1100, 3000. The average profit margin of serious sellers seems to be 5kyear yearly: 446, 6110 ! , 735, 1769, 390, 100, 33, 12694 !! , 1116, 3030, 798. I know the craft area but I would be learning some new skills. I have not been in the selling business before, but I have been doing a lot of reading up and research. I just dont know how this venture is going to turn out but I am really worried about my situation and long so very badly to be back in the green again. I have reduced my retirement contributions to very little until I get out of this.  <response>: Realistically, its a terrible idea to invest in a business when you are already working 2 jobs. A business, especially a business with a low barrier to entry and high market saturation is going to take up much more time than you realize. The only way this will work is if you legitimately love doing what ever craft it is and find it relaxing. Than you should focus on 1-2 crafts and make them for fun and sell them here and there. Launching a business takes a huge amount of time, and requires a lot of marketing and Im hoping thats your day job. Snow ball your debt and when youve got it paid off, use your second job to help save up an emergency fund and your investment for a business. Quit your second job, than start your business. In the meantime you can figure out your niche and business plan while you are nailing down designsproducts with what you produce for fun now. 