Is Passion Important to Success in Business?

Is Passion Important to Success in Business?

Observe the most successful business people you know…..a common characteristic you will find is that successful people are passionate about what they do.

Without passion for what you are doing, you might as well stay in a job you don’t like. Business ownership gives us new freedom. Freedom to choose what we want to do, where we want to do it, and work with the people we want to work with.

It gives us an opportunity to raise the bar in our income level and build our own dream, rather than being an employee. This is all fantastic, but, if you are not passionate about what you are choosing to do, it will be a struggle.

I observe success. I observe what other business owners do to create success. This is a basic success principle….”learn what individuals do that are getting the results you want, and do what they do”. This is where a lot of people steer wrong.

Attract passionate customers by doing something YOU are passionate about! Here are a couple of examples:

1) I recently had a conversation with two women who each had a makeup business. Neither had success with that business. They both shared with me that they didn’t wear makeup, and could not get excited about their products. That makes perfect sense. Why would someone be excited about selling makeup if they didn’t even wear it themselves?

Now take the other side of the coin….another person selling makeup is so excited about a new revolutionary “lipstick” she offers….she has personally worn the lipstick and found it to stay on for the entire day during which time she has eaten, gone to the gym, and done all her regular tasks throughout the day. She looks in the mirror at the end of the day, and it looks as if she just applied it!

She is so excited and can’t wait to share this with her customers. This person will do extremely well…she is excited about her product, has a personal, positive experience with it, and can authentically relate that passion to her clients.

2) Another person I observed was at my gym – the individual was in a sales position selling gym memberships. This person was very overweight. My first thought was, how are they going to sell memberships to the gym if they are overweight themselves? I decided to observe this person, knowing that if they took their role seriously, started working out themselves, and could share their success story with people, this could lead to the incredible success that a naturally trim person may not be able to achieve.

If they committed to this personally, this could actually give them the “edge.” As I observed this person over a couple of months, I noticed that they never took a fitness class or used any of the workout machines (I am there every day, so was able to notice this) There was zero change in weight, and from my observation, absolutely no effort to improve. This person no longer works there.

3) Another person I observed bought an existing business. This was a business that they were a loyal customer of prior to purchasing it. They loved the product, told other people, and when faced with a layoff at their job, decided to do something they already liked, saw a need for, and could stand behind, because they were one of the top customers who experienced the value of the products.

Six months later, the business has increased dramatically, they are happier and more fulfilled than ever, and this has affected other parts of life as well….this individual has lost 20 lbs through having the time to walk every day. A great success story!

4) Musicians are a great example of passion. Make it a point to watch a live musician…..watch how their whole body gets into the groove of the song…they close their eyes, sing from the heart, sway to the music and just give it everything they’ve got. Musicians are such a great example of passion! They follow their dream and do what they love! We can learn from musicians’ passion, and implement this same principle into business ownership.

Many times people struggle in business because they are doing something they don’t like, don’t believe in, or, have no background or interest in. It seems logical, but many miss this point:

MAKE A LIST OF EVERYTHING YOU LOVE AND FIND A BUSINESS CONCEPT THAT MATCHES YOUR PASSION!

When you DO what you love, the money follows. Unfortunately, many people work a job or start a business just for the money. They have no passion or belief in what they are doing. This is exactly why the person at the gym and the people selling makeup did not get the result they wanted. The other person that bought the business they were already a top customer of, naturally created success and is continuing to build that business to an even greater level.

I know this individual personally and know that this was a huge step outside of the comfort zone to invest in a business, and they knew nothing about business ownership. This person has succeeded because of pure passion….and a willingness to step outside of what they had always done and were willing to learn and make decisions to reach their goal.

Success always leaves clues – if, you observe and follow them…