CROSSROADS CHAPTER ONE OF ON YOUR MARKS

How to turn your passion

into a business

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." -Albert Einstein

We are passionate about so many things but more often than not just having passion is never enough to make it in business as many have found out the hard after millions may have gone down the drain.

This article is going to help you discover your sweet spot. Often defined as where your passion meets skill with enough people willing and able to pay for what you are offering.

What is Passion?

When I talk about passion, I am talking about that thing whatever it may be that you love to do, something you are even willing to do for free. I believe that Passion is innate, its somewhere on your inside wired into your DNA. 

It is called different things by different people: your assignment, your purpose, the question life has given you to answer etc.

Passion is not enough to be successful in business, you need much more.

Skill or Competence

Let's assume for a moment that I am passionate about football, but unfortunately, while growing up, I did not have the opportunity to play football enough to make a career out of it.

I clearly can’t make it playing football even though I am passionate about it. 

To stand a chance of making a profit out of this passion I must carefully analyse the football value chain to see where else apart from actual playing where I can convert my passion into a viable business opportunity.

This explains why some people seem to be jinxed in business, they are passionate about something, but they do not have the skill or competence to be the best in their area of interest.

One way to deal with this challenge would be to strive to develop your competence in your area of interest by training, apprenticeship etc.

But this is still not enough.

Is there a market?

You are passionate about it; you have the know-how but there are not enough customers to make it a viable business. You will still come short.

There are many people swelling the job market today for this very reason. 

Many graduates are unemployed for this very reason. They followed their passion, got a degree as proof of their competence. Some even went as far as getting certifications, vocational skills etc. as further proof of competence but unfortunately, there are no demands for their skills.

Conclusion

Business success or business viability lies at the intersection of these three variables: Passion, Skills and marketability.

Some refer to that point of intersection as your Sweet spot;an optimum point or combination of factors or qualities. You must locate your sweet spot to stand a chance of making it in business. I like the way Jim Collins one of my favourite authors put it in his book Good to Great he called it the Hedgehog concept.  

Have you found your Sweet Spot? Are you looking for it? Do you need help with finding it?