The Word Corner

One question I often come across in forums and mentorship calls is:

“Should I start with a business that can quickly help me generate some online income and then later follow my true passion or should I work on something I’m truly passionate about?”

Having spent years doing jobs that only paid our bills, many of us, when faced with the choice of starting our own business, tend to follow the “safe” route and pursue what we think may be the most practical or conventional way to generate cash.

While it is possible to build a business based solely on the need to generate income, if all we care about is making money then perhaps a better choice is to just get a job. Otherwise, what’s the point of working our butts off to build businesses we’re not really excited about?

Long term, taking the ‘practical route’ is not a fulfilling or sustainable choice.

Although starting an online business is fairly inexpensive, maintaining a blog, creating a product, doing social media, link building, creating landing pages are all tasks that require consistent, ongoing effort and a considerable investment of time. If you’re not following your passion, this can be painful and over time difficult or impossible to sustain. You may be able to do it for six months or a year but eventually, you’ll run out of steam and quit.

I strongly believe it is worth spending some time figuring out how to create a product or service that will get you a step further towards the achievement of your lifetime goals.

Ideally your first, second and third product or idea should move you closer to fulfilling your long term vision of the life you want to create.

A good rule of thumb is: “don’t even start working on something you can’t see yourself doing in 5 or 10 years”.

Learn to Live in the Zone of Uncertainty

On a recent conference call, I heard a successful travel blogger admit: “when I started blogging, I had no idea how I was going to combine my passions, skills and interests to create a business”. Brooke (of Business Backpacker) has managed to build a fun and profitable location independent business that supports her passion for travel. “I actually can’t do things unless I really love them”, writes Brooke in her About page.

Building a business that is aligned with our vision, goals, values and passions is an organic and constantly evolving process that can take months or even years and maybe a few misses before finally succeeding.

If you are able to align your passions with the three main markets: Health & Fitness, Making Money and Relationships (the three most basic human needs according to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs), you’ll have a greater chance of finding a profitable niche.

For real life examples of businesses built around passion, think of Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s and the creators of Life is Good.

Yes, it is possible to have fun and make money.

Work, play, love and live with passion.