Some Excellent Advice To Ignore

In the world of small business development information, there are many successful people who warn against following your interests or passions to develop a business. They say, very pragmatically, that just because you love something doesn’t mean it can be a successful business. They recommend talking to people with similar interests, most efficiently through online formats, to see if there is a product to be developed with a perceived value that makes it a viable business. Even in the world of publishing, the recommendation is to market a product to see if there’s interest and then write it based on what the market wants.

That’s absolutely solid advice. Except when it doesn’t apply.

What the successful developer of multiple small businesses probably doesn’t understand is that his or her passion is small businesses, and he or she is making a successful business out of that passion. He or she has learned some shortcuts along the way to seeing if an idea will work, plus ways to get to profit earlier. What the small publisher or self-publisher may not realize is that, even though he or she enjoys writing, the passion is for publishing.

The small business development guru may enjoy finding new markets and new products to generate income in a new way. That does sound pretty exciting, but it means his or her focus is on maximum profitability with minimal risk or effort. Show this person the numbers on a small business based on creating and finding unique sources for hand-painted tiles and selling them to a niche market and you’ll get shot down. It’s too complicated to find the sources, maybe the margins (price you pay and expenses compared to selling price) aren’t very good, and it’s hard to find buyers. The only sort of person who could make that work would be… hmm… someone passionate about hand-painted tiles!

The hand-painted tile aficionado will know how to value tiles, know what fellow tile-philes appreciate, have many ideas for incorporating them into home and building designs, include research in travel plans, and constantly be finding new sources of tiles and new pockets of possible clients just because of the shared interest.

This is why it’s possible for people to make a good income collecting and selling perfume bottles or antique guns, being a pet psychic or pet chiropractor, massage therapist, or naturopath, and organizing parties around stories with historical or regional themes. It’s the reason a person can write a book about his or her field of interest and sell it at gatherings, conventions, and conferences of people who share that interest.

It’s the reason the person who loves to cook and create wonderful meal experiences can try out catering, stumble into making desserts for local restaurants, have success offering cooking classes, and then turn some of the students into personal chefs for busy families. When you start with your passion and just do it (pardon me, Nike), you find what you love about it. You find what other people appreciate about it. And you find what other people value about it and will pay to have.

When talking to solopreneurs, Barbara Winter tells us, “The business you start out with won’t be the business you end up with.” This is what she’s describing. It’s a process of self-discovery, exploration, and growth. As we learn more about what interests us we find more ways to make money at it. You can’t figure out any of that if you just survey the market to see what they want to buy. You have to live it, develop it, and learn more about it just to be able to figure out some of the things you’ll wind up offering.

So if you want a small business that’s any old small business survey the market and see what they want.
Then sell it to them. Maybe that’s your passion. But if you want an authentic lifestyle that honors your values and expresses your gifts, talents, and passions, start designing it and start living it. You won’t need a lot of money quickly if you transition wisely. You’ll find ways to generate money from at least some of the things you love so you can slowly replace unfulfilling work with more meaningful and enjoyable profit centers.

But you’ll have to figure those out along the way.

Find Your Mission – Write Your Story – Tell The World

Steve Coxsey