This morning I heard a theory about the whole passion thing.
Some say you should start a business about which you feel passionate but at the same time passion could get in the way of making money.
For example, say you`re passionate about beef steak and the world is just turning away from red meat. Everyone wants fish but you`re not passionate about fish. You get excited at the thought of serving people a big fat juicy steak. You start to go buss. Then what should you do? Your passion may get in the way of logic and encourage you to stick it out.
Then you would have to ask yourself, am I in business to prove a point or to make money? Am I in business to prove that there will always be a market albeit small for beef steak or should I just start selling fish and make more money.
Interested in your views,
Aleem
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I think you have to be able to roll with the times. Just like the bakeries did during the low-carb era. Offer trendy items but stick with your core competancy. Passion and a connection to your target market gives a person a leg up on the competition.
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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC
--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--
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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC
--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--
I`ve always believed that if you find your passion and love what you`re
doing, the money won`t matter as much. Yes - you do need to pay the
bills and you should make a profit, but loving your work should be first
and foremost.
If you`re passionate about what you`re doing, you`ll come up with creative
ways to market it (pork took the approach of "the other white meat"). If
you`re passionate and do a great job I believe the money and success will
follow. Maybe not to the extent you want it to , but it won`t matter
because you`ll be content in what you`re doing.
doing, the money won`t matter as much. Yes - you do need to pay the
bills and you should make a profit, but loving your work should be first
and foremost.
If you`re passionate about what you`re doing, you`ll come up with creative
ways to market it (pork took the approach of "the other white meat"). If
you`re passionate and do a great job I believe the money and success will
follow. Maybe not to the extent you want it to , but it won`t matter
because you`ll be content in what you`re doing.
I think passion helps, but it`s not necessary. I think that it is necessary to believe in what you sell or in what service you perform, but I think the word passion is thrown around way too much. When people use that word, they sound kind of flaky to me. I think success is more attainable if you enjoy what you do, but I think few people are truly "passionate".
I think that having passion doesn`t necessarily mean that someone is out of touch with the realities of their market. You can be passionate about beef, to use your example, and yet realize that a lot of people see it as a health threat. You can abandon that product and move on to fish, OR you can find ways to make beef healthier, or show consumers ways in which beef can be good for them, or segment your market better to target customers who don`t care so much about health and just love beef. Passion can make you more creative so that you can keep doing what you want to be doing.
I think passion can get you through the tough times. That`s why I think people say that passion is necessary.
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Kelly -- living the entrepreneurial life one day at a time.
huh! I`ve always understood the expression as having passion for what you do not a particular item. For instance if you have a passion for selling then it doesn`t matter if you are selling car tires or pantyhose you are selling. If you have a passion for innovation it doesn`t matter if you are innovating agricultural practices or airline standards you are innovating. If you have a passion for food it doesn`t matter if you are cooking Chinese or Mexican food. If you have a passion for saving animals it doesn`t matter if you are saving abandoned street dogs or chimps in the wild you are saving animals. As I understand it, we are referring to a passion for what you do, not a passion for one thing. For instance way, way back, when the planet was young and long haired humanoids roamed the earth I had a boss that didn`t like inventory time, he hated it with a passion, it didn`t matter if it was pharmacy inventory or retail inventory he hated it just the same... you see?
Interesting, that is not how I have come to understand it. I look at the final product only. I could never get passionate about windows, pens or computers. But give me airplanes, wine or heirloom tomatoes and I`m "all in".
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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC
--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--
-------------------------
Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC
--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--
"
This morning I heard a theory about the whole passion thing.
Some say you should start a business about which you feel passionate but at the same time passion could get in the way of making money."
Some say you should start a business about which you feel passionate but at the same time passion could get in the way of making money."
I hope I am doing this correctly, it is my first post here!
For me the above is the opposite. I started a business out of sheer desperation with nothing but the need to make money and now I am very passionate about what I am doing. I think it was the absolute need to make something succeed that I was driven by and now I can relax a little and enjoy it (I think that is what I am doing!). After reading your post, I do believe I would say I am passionate about what I do, and now, it is this passion to be the best that we can be, and to provide the highest quality products that we can, that drives us on.
I believe passion is a very important ingredient for success. I also think
other ingredients are important like being in touch with reality, having
trust, being able to handle problems and having certain disciplines, to
name a few.
So can you run a business without passion? Sure! Could you run a
business if, say, you weren`t good at understanding your realities? Sure!
But then maybe the fish business will beat you out no matter how
passionate you are for beef. I don`t view that as passion getting in the
way, rather a lack of other qualities. There are many attributes of
leadership which must jive together. When people talk about passion in
business, the subject is usually related to the drive for success. Though I
don`t think it necessary to operate, I know it necessary to succeed.
The original post addresses the advice of others that say to start a
business for which you are passionate. They are right, but at the same
time it is also advised that one start a business with other abilities as
well. Passion is simply one of them.
other ingredients are important like being in touch with reality, having
trust, being able to handle problems and having certain disciplines, to
name a few.
So can you run a business without passion? Sure! Could you run a
business if, say, you weren`t good at understanding your realities? Sure!
But then maybe the fish business will beat you out no matter how
passionate you are for beef. I don`t view that as passion getting in the
way, rather a lack of other qualities. There are many attributes of
leadership which must jive together. When people talk about passion in
business, the subject is usually related to the drive for success. Though I
don`t think it necessary to operate, I know it necessary to succeed.
The original post addresses the advice of others that say to start a
business for which you are passionate. They are right, but at the same
time it is also advised that one start a business with other abilities as
well. Passion is simply one of them.
We become
passionate about ideas, not about things. We "love" things. So you`d be
passionate about starting a business, as an idea. But you could love or
be apathetic to your product.
Unfortunately, if you`re apathetic about the product and don`t value it, as you would if you loved it, then your writing and marketing would probably reflect that lack of interest.
I think the deeper issue, implied here but not stated, is if you intend to earn a living from the business. If the whole world is turning away from red meat, does that mean all 6-billion people? Probably not. Therefore SOME people would always be interested in a site about red meat.
It`s like writing. If you write for your audience, then you`re sort of a production-line writer.... a commercial writer. But if you`re writing because you have something you want to say, and it doesn`t matter much who`s the audience, that`s a different story.
Without a passion for the idea behind the things you intend to do, you`ll likely become discouraged 79.4% faster. LOL!! Okay...fine...I just made up that number! But I love how people toss around these kinds of statistics. :-D
Unfortunately, if you`re apathetic about the product and don`t value it, as you would if you loved it, then your writing and marketing would probably reflect that lack of interest.
I think the deeper issue, implied here but not stated, is if you intend to earn a living from the business. If the whole world is turning away from red meat, does that mean all 6-billion people? Probably not. Therefore SOME people would always be interested in a site about red meat.
It`s like writing. If you write for your audience, then you`re sort of a production-line writer.... a commercial writer. But if you`re writing because you have something you want to say, and it doesn`t matter much who`s the audience, that`s a different story.
Without a passion for the idea behind the things you intend to do, you`ll likely become discouraged 79.4% faster. LOL!! Okay...fine...I just made up that number! But I love how people toss around these kinds of statistics. :-D
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