If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone dispensing the trite advice, “Follow your passions  well, I’d have a pretty good stash of copper. But, what I wouldn’t have is good advice. Sound crazy? Isn’t passion a necessary ingredient in any successful business owner?
Nope.
The ‘passion imperative’ has been overused and much-abused. It can cloud one’s judgment. It can encumber one’s objectivity. Moreover, it does not necessarily translate to profit and long-term market viability. All too often I find buyers walking away from strong opportunities because they did not have an out-of-body experience when initially checking out a particular category or specific brand. They seem to think they need to be doubled-over in bliss in order to pursue something.
My philosophy has been shaped over the years working with countless buyers and concluding that there is not a correlation between passion and profit. The R2, as statisticians would say, simply is not tight between the two. I have just seen too many people try a golf business or bait and tackle shop or the like (their ‘passions’) only to burn out quickly and/or find that they got crummy advice to contrive their passion/diversion/hobby/labor-of-love/et al into their business. Bottom line, passion won’t pay the bills.
Risk Is Our Oxygen… continue reading.