Here's my blue print to enjoy life!

 

There's always a way to turn your passion into a business. It's just rarely a good idea.

 

I recently had an interesting conversation about this. The guy that started the company I work for and creates all the products was on Shark Tank about a million years ago. One of the main objections the "sharks" had to his business model was that he didn't seem "passionate" enough about the product. It's interesting, because TV shows like that are a short of crossroads between entrepreneurial reality and entertainment value. Viewers don't want to see that you saw a market opportunity, then grinded it out, they want to see that you stumbled on a brilliant idea while engaged in your favorite passion.

The irony of course, is that none of the sharks are "passionate" about reality TV, but that's what they're selling.

Literally everyone is selling this fantasy these days, often and sometimes especially, entrepreneurs that know it's bullshit.

 

Not always. Some passion plays turn into serious businesses. Billion dollar ones, even. But that's got the same chance as winning the lottery or making the NFL draft. Not something to count on.

 

That whole marketing of "do what you love" unfortunately works, because most people enjoy the idea of doing something they would do anyway, after work or on the weekends, and getting rich while doing that simple thing.

I mean, who am I to blame them? None of them read TMF/Unscripted or came across the forum. If they would, they would know about the problem between passion and value/needs.

To me, it's not just black and white. To me, it's a difference between "do what you love" and "love what you do".

The problem that I have with "do what you love" is, that it implies some kind of simpliticy. I mean, the things we love are usually simple to us. You play guitar since you're 10 and no matter how difficult it is to learn and everything, to you it's probably a no brainer to play the songs you can play.

So, I think the whole "do what you love" kinda falls under the "get rich easy" thing, while also making it seem, that the people who will follow it, will enjoy every second of it, since hey, it's their passion right? Right? No.

As we all know on here, businesses must make CENTS.

Following your passion to me means, doing the same thing you'd do anyway in your freetime to enjoy your life, just you know, getting rich while doing so.

There's no thought about an actual need the masterpiece chiseled out of your passionate doings fills. None about the control you have about your product, the entry into its market, if it's scalable and can live on without your time being put into it anymore.

Being passionate about something is not a bad thing by itself.

But instead of using passion to excuse a lazy way of doing something that's easy to do for you, in the hopes of getting rich through it, it can be used for something good.

Let's take the example from above.
You're a passionate guitar player. You love to sit there and get lost in the music your own hands create, or to entertain your family at barbecues or family parties.
Great for you. Seriously. There's nothing wrong with that.

In my opinion, it becomes something wrong as soon as you burden that enjoyment with the expectation of making money out of it. Especially, with becoming rich or making a living from it.

Run your idea of playing guitar for a living through the commandments and see if it makes CENTS.

If you realize that it doesn't, it's time to dive deeper into it. No, no. Not into the guitar playing. Diving deeper into a product that makes CENTS.

It's time for you to look for a Need.

Not for your enjoyment. Or the least effort.

If you're still heads over into guitar playing, and your mind's wandering to it every second you glance out of the window, then try to use that passion in a different way.

Is there a need you can fill in the guitar market? Is there something that you and a lot of guitar players you know hate about playing the guitar? Something inconvenient that could use a product to make every guitar player that owns it's life easier? If so, run it through the commandments. Makes CENTS? Yes? Great, dive deeper into it if you want. No? Look for another Need.

Needs can be found in a market you are passionate about. I mean, markets can be pretty broad.
You love food? Cool. You can cook? Even cooler.
The "do what you love"-ish thing to do now would be to open a restaurant around the corner and start cooking for the neighbourhood.
The "love what you do"-ish thing, at least in my opinion, to do, would be to research the shit out of the food market. Looking for problems, inconveniences, wants and if you find one, diving deeper into them.

In the end, it doesn't matter if you are passionate about a market or not to find a Need in it and provide value to it. You can be a tough guy with a beard as long as your arms and a scent that reminds one of an olympic runner, after the run, and still create the hottest and most wanted eye-liner out there. Or you can be a woman that's always been interested in make-up and women's beauty products, who invents this awesome eye-liner.

You don't have to be passoinate about the type of product or its market to create something of value that people want and that makes CENTS.

Taking action and creating something valuable is what will make you fall in "love what you are doing".
On some days not. On some days you will hate the shit out of every little second you put into it. But those days will go by, too. And in the end, it's the process that you love.

 

Without passionate "entrepreneurs" it'd be a lot harder for those of us that are passionate about making money.

 

It's too bad there are tons of young people going to college and bouncing around majors and going into debt trying to find their passion. What they are getting is the habit of not committing to things. They think that passion precedes commitment, but I think it's the other way around. I think it was Grant Cardone that said It's better to commit 100% to the wrong thing than 50% to the right thing. Like MJ said "winning inspires passion". Commitment inspires winning.

 

I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day and the guy was talking about how he met a deca-millionaire who got there by selling porta potties.

Doubt that he was passionate about his product.

There's still plenty of opportunity in the offline world if you're willing to deal with "shitty" situations har har har...

 

I'm thinking about selling cleaning ware....now that you mention it.
Still can be put online with e-commerce.

Speaking of shitty situations:

View: https://youtu.be/3FOae1V1-Xg