The more time you spend in a startup environment, the more you realize that the best traits cannot be taught. You can study for years at prestigious schools, receive large grants for funding and have a team that excels in the field and still watch your business fail.
After spending some years building and working in startups, I’ve learned that the skills you gained don’t guarantee success. Sure, skills are necessary to build a successful business, and every entrepreneur should spend time developing their skills. But those skills won’t keep your business alive if you don’t have the drive and passion to make it succeed.
Passion is perhaps the most important trait you can have when starting a business. Entrepreneurs say that starting a business is hard, takes time and can be very stressful – and they’re right. The time you have to put into a business for it to succeed can be daunting, and without passion it’s tough to imagine entrepreneurs building a company that lasts.
If you want to be an entrepreneur, understand the importance of passion and how to apply it to your business.
The Importance Of Passion
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, then you’ve probably spent some time trying to figure out what your passion is. We often hear of how important it is to find the one thing that drives us and pushes us forward. Well, here’s the truth to it: you may not have one thing that drives you. In reality, you probably have multiple motivators. I know I do: I ranked Status Labs on the Inc. 500 and Fast 50 as CEO and COO from 2012 to 2015. Then there’s 3D food printing start up BeeHex, which recently won IEEE’s Leadership award as an industry pioneer. BNB Shield and O’Dwyer’s-ranked Notability Partners as well as a significant real estate rental operation I built piece by piece.
Finding these motivators and acting on them is critical for success. It’s hard to think of a modern startup that wasn’t created by someone who was passionate about their field. That’s also one of the reasons entrepreneurs are looked up to. When you see famous entrepreneurs, you see people who have created massive companies and made tons of money while doing what they love.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, this should be a lesson. The goal of your startup shouldn’t be to overtake Facebook of Google, or even smaller sized companies that are dominating the market. Companies that are started solely to make a profit tend to be frustrating and unexciting – and they also run the risk of failure.
Before you make your big move as an entrepreneur, make sure you’re passionate about what you’re getting into. If not, then you shouldn’t take your idea to the market yet.
Applying Your Passion To An Area You Understand
No entrepreneur should ignore a good idea they have. However, we often have ideas that aren’t related to anything we’ve had previous experience in. In these instances, passion needs to work hand-in-hand with skills to develop a successful business – unless you change the way you approach your new idea.
Richard Branson, business mogul and founder of Virgin Group, shares his experience with this type of situation. Even with his experience, he knows that entering a new area of business isn’t going to work if you don’t have the passion to make it work.
Instead of forcing yourself into a business that’s bound to fail, Branson suggests taking a different approach to your idea entirely. His advice: "If you have an idea that might work in an area that you’re not passionate about, instead think about ways that you could apply it to a sector that does excite you.” In other words, think about how you can apply your passion and skills to an idea.
Branson’s example was Virgin’s venture into banking through Virgin Money. He didn’t have any experience or passion for banking, but Branson and his team had an idea they knew could work. So, instead of looking at it as banking, Branson reimagined Virgin Money as a customer service company – an area that has driven Branson since the creation of Virgin Group.
His approach disrupted the banking industry, especially after confidence in banking dropped after the 2008 financial crisis. While other banks began to develop more reliable and helpful customer service, Branson had already developed the idea into a successful business.
Bring Drive And Passion Into The Workplace
Once you’ve found your passion and applied it to your business idea, the next step is to find people with a similar drive.
You won’t be able to build a company on your own. At some point, you’ll need to bring in other people that you can trust to help develop your brand. While many entrepreneurs look for candidates with the most experience in the field, I find that passion and talent are the best indicators of success.
Imagine two people applying for the same position. One has a few years of experience in a large firm and is guaranteed to fill the role aptly. The other doesn’t have any experience, but you can tell they have a passion for the field. Which is the better fit?
The first candidate will come into work, get their job done and fill the role. But are they going to take the next step and help your business grow, or are they there because they want to get their foot in the door at a growing startup?
The candidate with passion will take time to adjust to the role. They may not have real experience, and perhaps they’ll need training on how to run specific programs or conduct business. But if they’re truly passionate, they’ll learn everything they need to learn – and more. Passionate people don’t stop at the bare minimum. They’ll continue to learn, improve and push.
While the passionate candidate won’t immediately fill the needs of the role, the upside is always going to be much higher than hiring someone with skills and experience but no passion.