Love What You Do — But Don't Let It Sink Your Business. Here's How to Stay Passionate and Profitable. Passion may fuel your startup, but profit keeps it alive.
By Nicholas Leighton Edited by Chelsea Brown
Key Takeaways
- Many founders focus all of their time, attention and energy toward parts of the business they're most passionate about. But if your business isn't as profitable as you think it should be, you may be falling into a passion trap.
- Change your financial mindset. Instead of mindlessly pursuing money, reframe your business's financial goals in terms of supporting your desired lifestyle.
- Outsource or delegate non-passion tasks to others. It ensures the business operates smoothly and frees up the founder's time to do more of what they love to do.
- Schedule blocks of time dedicated to CEO activities and others for more creative outlets.
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We've all heard the saying "Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life." There is a lot of truth packed into this statement. Passion typically lies at the foundation of every successful business. For many business owners, choosing entrepreneurship meant escaping the dull, soulless corporate jobs that simply didn't make them happy. Instead, they wanted to get up every morning and engage in work that was exciting, challenging and meaningful.
Building a business from the ground up requires a ton of blood, sweat and tears. The entrepreneurial journey isn't for the faint of heart. Despite the headwinds of starting a new business, passion can be a powerful driving force that propels early growth. There are countless stories of entrepreneurs who created world-class brands by simply chasing what they love.
While passion is a critical ingredient in any successful business, it can present challenges when it's the founder's sole focus. At the end of the day, a business must be profitable to survive. This doesn't mean that passion should be cast to the wayside. Instead, entrepreneurs need to be aware that too much passion can create blind spots that hold the business back from achieving strategic growth and maximizing their personal well-being.
Related: Passion Alone Is Not Enough to Open a Business
1. Identify your passion traps
As humans, we've evolved to desire the pursuit of things that bring us joy and pleasure at all costs. For this reason, it's easy for business owners to selectively focus all of their time, attention and energy toward parts of the business they are most passionate about. The challenge is that not every product or service provides the same amount of value to the business. If your business isn't as profitable as you think it should be, it may be that you are falling into a passion trap.
To solve this, create a matrix of all your products and services. Next to each item, rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 in two categories — passion and profitability. Your rating in the passion column should be based on how much you enjoy working on this product or service or how much fulfillment it brings to your life. The other rating indicates its profitability, scalability and long-term potential from a financial perspective.
The items on your list with the highest combined score should be where you double your efforts, since they achieve both objectives. However, products or services that are high on passion but low on profitability are likely passion traps. These might be better reserved for a hobby in your free time rather than a part of your business.
2. Change your financial mindset
Unfortunately, too many entrepreneurs fall into the endless cycle of aimlessly trying to capture more and more revenue. While this can be great for the bottom line, it can create a lot of stress and pressure on the business owner. They end up focusing entirely on the financial side of the business and neglect the side of the business that builds excitement and purpose for the entrepreneur, which can lead to stress, burnout and loss of motivation.
Instead of the mindless pursuit of money, reframe your business's financial goals in terms of supporting your desired lifestyle. This gives you something more tangible and rewarding that's tied to the financial success and strategic growth of your business.
For example, maybe you started the business with the intention of having a better work-life balance, but the growing business now demands that you work 80 hours a week. An alternative mindset would be to focus on allocating some of your growing revenue to hiring a general manager to take work off your plate so you can spend more time with your family. When you tie your increased profit to your personal lifestyle goals, it makes achieving them more meaningful.
Related: What Part Does Passion Play in Your Success as an Entrepreneur?
3. Strategic delegation and outsourcing
Many businesses are started because they leverage the strength or passion of the founder. This can be a powerful driving force in designing amazing products and building excitement with customers around the brand. The challenge is that this can also be a distraction for the business owner. There are numerous critical tasks that must be completed in order to keep the business in operation, such as accounting, payroll processing, record keeping, legal compliance and inventory management. If the entrepreneur is too focused on only the tasks that bring passion, the business could struggle operationally.
The real test is when the business has grown so much that the entrepreneur no longer has any time left to work on the exciting parts of the business. This can cause the business owner to lose their passion entirely or begin to resent the business. To solve this, it's a good idea to outsource or delegate non-passion tasks to others. This is a win-win as it ensures the business operates smoothly while also freeing up the founder's time to do more of what they love to do.
4. Segment your schedule
Passion and profit are two very important sides of the same coin. Focusing too much on the business operations itself can stifle creativity and the passion that allows for the creation of new products, keeping the business owner engaged and driving excitement within the team. On the other hand, leaning too heavily into passion can damage your ability to operate the business effectively and stunt your growth. It's a catch-22. As a business owner, you have to be mindful to balance your time carefully between the two. A good practice is to schedule intentional blocks of time dedicated to CEO activities and others for more creative outlets.
Related: Why We Balance Passion With Reason
Passion is a must-have attribute for any entrepreneur. However, unchecked passion can be a recipe for disaster. When used correctly, it can be an amazing catalyst for growth. As an entrepreneur, it's important to strike the right balance to avoid unintended consequences of burnout, financial instability, stress and lack of joy from blindly chasing passion projects.
