Tiffany Raiford
The hula hoop is one of those toys we’ve all encountered at some point in our lives. We had them as children, we have them as adults with children of our own and we see them wherever we go. These are such popular toys that when my husband and I took our daughter off to her favorite resort to celebrate her seventh birthday weekend this July, the resort’s activities director had a DJ by one of the pools and he was encouraging everyone to pick up a hula hoop and see who could do it the longest. Our daughter picked one up, hula hooped the longest and then added two more hoops to her collection and mastered the art of hula hooping with three rings at a time right there in front of us. It was a very cool moment. She was proud – and so were we.
It’s fun, it’s great exercise and it allows you to burn off some steam whenever you need the opportunity. For that purpose, many people love this activity. But, to them, it’s just an activity. To one California native, however, it’s her entire way of life. Leela Loisel makes a living using her hula hoops. Not only does she make custom hoops for herself and for her customers, she also provides lessons and teaches kids how to be master hoopers – and she earns an average of $50 per hour doing it. It’s a lucrative career for her, and she makes the entire process sound pretty easy. If you’d like to learn how you can combine fun, fitness and financial independence to your own life, we’ve taken Loisel’s business plan and modeled it into a pretty simple business plan for you to follow.
Consider your Talent
Obviously, you’re not going to make any money as a professional hula hoop star if you’re not good at the art. It seems pretty obvious, but we thought we might throw it out there just in case anyone was considering the job without considering the actual facts first and foremost.
Get out There
The second most important thing you have to do when you choose this line of work is get out there. The best business practice in a career like this is word of mouth and visibility. According to Loisel, her most lucrative moments happen when she takes her hoops out to street festivals and other adventures happening around her home and performs. No one is paying her to perform on the street, but when children see her spinning two, three, four hoops at a time around various body parts and appendages, they tend to ask their parents to stop so that they can watch. This inevitably leads to conversation, which then leads to her handing out her business card offering lessons and custom hoops to anyone interested.
According to Leisel, she then books several appointments for private lessons for which she charges $15-$20 per hour. These lessons help kids learn something a little bit more fun and a little bit more creative than what they already know how to do, and the price for teaching kids to get a little more active and provide them with the desire to become less sedentary is often priceless to parents.
Offer a Free Lesson
Another way that Loisel makes a significant portion of her income is through offering free lessons. She makes custom hoops in different sizes that can do different things when used with different body parts, and she sells them for around $20-$30 per hoop. She offers a free lesson to anyone who is willing to pay for a hoop, and that often leads to a second lesson, a third lesson and so on. These lessons often lead to new lessons with other people thanks to the good reputation she has with those who have used her services.
Many people are willing to pay nothing for something when they have the opportunity, and that means that this is a great way to garner interest without being pushy. When someone comes for a free lesson, loves it and wants to come back, Loisel just made her money and then some in what she was doing for her clients. It’s been a very valuable and lucrative process for her.
Learn to Make Hula Hoops
Loisel has created custom hoops for a while now, and she feels that it’s one of her most lucrative practices. Not only are her hoops sturdier and more functional than the ones you can pick up at the local dollar store for a dollar, they also include a free hooping lesson. Her hoops are different sizes, made of different piping and can be made any color or design imaginable thanks to the taping process of the hoops. They’re not expensive to make or purchase, and they add to the value of her business.
Why Hoop?
Perhaps the most important thing about Loisel’s job is that it provides her with so much more than just a living. In fact, it provides her with something else entirely. It provides her with frequent exercise. As a result, she is in amazing shape. She claims she doesn’t have to work out at all when she hoops so much, and that it puts her in a good mood all the time. Of course, exercise and physical activity will do that to you. They will put you in a good mood as they release endorphins that will result in you becoming less stressed, happier and more alert when you are being active. It’s a great benefit.
The other benefit is that it brings joy to children. Loisel is perfectly aware of the fact that kids love her art, and that many kids are not into traditional sports but this is something that piques their interest and makes them want to get involved. And did we mention it’s actually a lot of fun. If you love to hula hoop and think that you have the talent to do something like this, try it out.
Photo by Getty Images
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