alexanderkjones
Regular Contributor
This post is dedicated to @TomTrepreneur who sent me a PM today with a legitimate concern that he simply did not know where to start when choosing a market and he felt like he was just spinning his tires. We can go searching and searching for an opportunity but in the beginning we don't really know the mechanics of it and we end up reading a ton of books and taking classes that put us into information overload!
So, here we go, get ready. I'm going to make this dead simple for you and answer some key questions from @TomTrepreneur. If this post is at all helpful to you please divert all rep points to him because he had the guts to ask for help. Let's begin!
As a social entrepreneur myself this was something I struggled years with so let's first look at the psychology of entrepreneurship and then move on to the brass tacks mechanics because if you don't deal with this you'll never move forward.
Golden Rule: All Entrepreneurship is about Service, Get Passionate About Solving People's Problems
From the time we begin reading the entrepreneurial literate and self help mantras we're told to go find our passion, frolic in the wilderness and come out enlightened with this piece of self discovery that will fulfill our lives and make us whole. We forget we're often told this by people who've already found the thing they are passionate about and quite often they are forgetting how much it took them to get there. Passion is discovered it is not found. There is nothing you can do to force it, but you do have to invite it in by getting out of the slow lane and trying lot's of different things that you think will fulfill you. It's a lot like dating
But what should we do while we're looking for our passion? Should we not be entrepreneurs and wait? Absolutely not, you want to run your various self development initiatives in parallel to move into the fast lane as quickly as possible. Don't waste time. More importantly don't let you search for passion blind your sense for opportunity.
Entrepreneurship is about serving people, creating value, and changing people's lives irregardless of wether you care about the product. You just have to care about the people and then almost any opportunity becomes a joyful and lucrative experience. Entrepreneurs are listeners, your communication skills and empathy will take you farther than anything else as an entrepreneur because you'll start to see everyone's problems instead of worrying about your own. You've got to be good with numbers, but start by listening.
Golden Rule #2: You Financial Goals Can and Most Often Will Be Different From Your Personal Goals
I remember when I first started out on my entrepreneurial journey and I was so stuck in this mindset that I had to do something that changed the world, that made a difference on a global level, that if it wasn't big and changing humanity it wasn't worth my time. Those are still my personal goals and standards for myself and the life I strive to live today. BUT, I missed a lot of opportunities to help in important ways that would have generated capital for me and given me more power faster to reach my visions.
It took me some time to realize that my personal goals of changing the world DID NOT HAVE TO BE COMBINED with my financial goals of complete independence. "Find you passion and make it your work" is stupid and it took me a long time to figure that out. Decouple your personal and professional outcomes. Make sure they compliment each other but do not base your success on forcing the two together.
Take Away: Clear Your Expectations and Be Open to Opportunity in Life and in Money
So, here we go, get ready. I'm going to make this dead simple for you and answer some key questions from @TomTrepreneur. If this post is at all helpful to you please divert all rep points to him because he had the guts to ask for help. Let's begin!
The main question here is, if it's not about what you're passionate about and what you think you might be good at or what excites and interests you in general what is it really about? To be honest at this stage it's as though I've forgotten what I enjoy other than trying to figure out how to get into business.
As a social entrepreneur myself this was something I struggled years with so let's first look at the psychology of entrepreneurship and then move on to the brass tacks mechanics because if you don't deal with this you'll never move forward.
Golden Rule: All Entrepreneurship is about Service, Get Passionate About Solving People's Problems
From the time we begin reading the entrepreneurial literate and self help mantras we're told to go find our passion, frolic in the wilderness and come out enlightened with this piece of self discovery that will fulfill our lives and make us whole. We forget we're often told this by people who've already found the thing they are passionate about and quite often they are forgetting how much it took them to get there. Passion is discovered it is not found. There is nothing you can do to force it, but you do have to invite it in by getting out of the slow lane and trying lot's of different things that you think will fulfill you. It's a lot like dating
But what should we do while we're looking for our passion? Should we not be entrepreneurs and wait? Absolutely not, you want to run your various self development initiatives in parallel to move into the fast lane as quickly as possible. Don't waste time. More importantly don't let you search for passion blind your sense for opportunity.
Entrepreneurship is about serving people, creating value, and changing people's lives irregardless of wether you care about the product. You just have to care about the people and then almost any opportunity becomes a joyful and lucrative experience. Entrepreneurs are listeners, your communication skills and empathy will take you farther than anything else as an entrepreneur because you'll start to see everyone's problems instead of worrying about your own. You've got to be good with numbers, but start by listening.
Golden Rule #2: You Financial Goals Can and Most Often Will Be Different From Your Personal Goals
I remember when I first started out on my entrepreneurial journey and I was so stuck in this mindset that I had to do something that changed the world, that made a difference on a global level, that if it wasn't big and changing humanity it wasn't worth my time. Those are still my personal goals and standards for myself and the life I strive to live today. BUT, I missed a lot of opportunities to help in important ways that would have generated capital for me and given me more power faster to reach my visions.
It took me some time to realize that my personal goals of changing the world DID NOT HAVE TO BE COMBINED with my financial goals of complete independence. "Find you passion and make it your work" is stupid and it took me a long time to figure that out. Decouple your personal and professional outcomes. Make sure they compliment each other but do not base your success on forcing the two together.
Take Away: Clear Your Expectations and Be Open to Opportunity in Life and in Money
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