Monday, January 21, 2008

Passion

I remember sitting in my entrepreneurship class while doing my undergrad back at Ripon College, and my professor (who is now a good friend) Mary Avery started talking about passion. Once you find something you are passionate about and enjoy doing, the next step was to find a way to make money doing it. A prime example was the horse ranch that Mary and her husband Tom started up - due to her love of horses and riding since she was small!

Why is being passionate about the business so important? Well, for one, if it is something you are passionate about, you likely have a depth of information about it - which can be leveraged in creating a greater competitive advantage. For instance, my friend Michelle (who actually took the entrepreneurship class with me at Ripon College) just emailed me about the business she was starting - Snappy Scrapping. Michelle is very passionate and knowledgeable about scrap booking, and this results in her ability to identify an opportunity in the industry as well as to be able to create high quality products. The second reason passion is so important is because starting a business requires a LOT of hard work and perseverance. Thus, if it is something you are passionate about, you are likely to have more motivation and work through it.

So, if you are still trying to think of a great business idea, ask yourself: What motivates you? What are your hobbies and interests? What are you passionate about? Then - find a way to make your passion your business.

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