Passion Alone does NOT equal Profitablity – Part 2
I’m SOOooooo glad I sparked some interests with last week’s post “Does Profit Equal Profitability?”!
And, I began writing my comments in the comments…but, I must post this critical information right here and right now!
Sorry for the delay in commenting, but tons of craziness is going on with my home-hunting, enjoying my life back East (ohh…the crisp, autumn dayz of New England are starting to fall down all its beauty)…and well, I’ll be releasing my Awesome eBook this week–I’m talking about stuff found no where else on the web…and I got copyright permission from some big-hitters too!
Anyways, let me begin:
“Wow. Sometimes I am awestruck by the way that things happen in life. It was as if you were in sync with the things that I have been thinking the past couple of days and tailored this post for me. I am a passionate person and there are many things that I am passionate about that I want to pursue. The problem is, I do not realistically have the resources (time, money, knowledge) to pursue everything that I am passionate about. That is, not if I want to make money at doing it (smile). So I say all of that to say, I appreciate your list of questions presented here and think that they will really assist me in the decisions that I need to make in the upcoming days.”
I’m so glad you felt my passion-touch, as if I was writing directly to you. I aim to write as-if I’m writing directly to you, and you, and you…every entrepreneur (and woman entreprenuer specifically) who reads my humble words.
Undoubtedly, I feel passionately about misinformation, misleading and misguided messages, and all for the sake of some one else’s profits!
Unfortunately, there are “farms” out there specifically for “women entrepreneurs” to buy into this “dream” that “passion” is all-that!
Yet, these “farms” do not give you any tools to move forward with their dream to make it reality. And, by the end of Year-1, your savings and Passion are depleted! But, the “farms” continue to profit and exist to get the next wave of 95% of woman entrepreneurs who will fail for the next year!
My dear mentor Yaro Starak shares that you need to focus on one-thing at a time, yet not put all your eggs in one basket.
My big-time focus is obviously EmpowerWomenNow.com…and only now, Saturday being my 6-month anniversary, I’m dedicating more time to my next endeavor WordPressReWorked.com. And, while I *had* 8,9,10 other side-blogs…I put them all to rest for 6-months, and I’m slowly resurrecting them or other projects one at a time.
So, PLEASE read and answer my questions posed critically and seriously. And, since this is your Start-Up Phase, I highly-recommend you apply for 3 Free Months of Business Coaching with the Women Entrepreneurs’ Coach, stating “Clarity of Passion and Profitability” as you need to focus and jump-start your entrepreneurial journey!
Wow, Ponn! This one is deep! You say you don’t need passion but what you’re describing is, in itself, passion. The passion may not be for the business idea, per se, but it could be about the freedom your business provides you to do other things.
I always chastise (mostly women) who take a lot of time out of their business to volunteer but then wonder why they’re struggling. Like making money is a bad thing. What they don’t realize is that if they focus on building their business to MAKE MONEY, they will have all kinds of freedom (and hopefully extra cash!) to do so much more for their philanthropic targets than before.
Building a business is HARD WORK. If you’re not driven by some level of passion, either within your business itself or by what your business can DO FOR YOU, then it is darn near impossible.
Darling, I’m touched that I actually wrote something you had to write a informative comment on–being your on a tight-traveling-schedule these days! 
Ditto to all you say! Yes, as I shared with my response to Vanessa…you gals “outted me”…I AM Passionate about entrepreneurs (specifically woman too) who use passion for this or that and find all the time to complain, whine, about no money with this and that’s too expensive…as if investing in their education is NOT investing in their life or business!
Adear colleague of mine and I always talked about the “philantrophic-side” of life and buisness that you talk about. I which people feel the need to do community service and charity,a dn yet they themselves can NOT afford to personally!
If you don’t have the time, freedom or money to give freely to the needy–why are you giving in the first place?
I applaud my girl-friend, because she took every opportunity she had to add charitable aspects to her business growth and less than 3 years she’s positioned to make as a home-based woman entrepreneur (with no warehouse, no staff–just virtual staff) her own profitability of close to the $1 million mark!
She takes long personal and charitable vacations and she writes $20K+ checks to her choice to charities all the time. Much more than the ones who criticized her who are barely making $20K/annually, and that’s NOT including their deductibilies.
[Yes, you may hear a bit of anxiety in my words--grinding of my teeth...the "I made a million, but her profits were 0--nada!" That's another "passionate" topic I have. Falsifying their true business wealth...or worse, in this online business-world: falsifying data, stats, money-made, exaggeration, or lies, lies, lies!!! And, *everyone* "buying" into their stuff, making them richer, only to be led blindly with no profitability to show for themselves.]
When women entrepreneur can not be purpose-driven, and have the “I can’t do it” “someone else may think I’m selling-out” or “I feel bad” mind-set…their business activities based on Passion are simply an act of FUTILITY!
Okay, I have something to add to this — I’m a business coach, after all — so no way I can keep quiet about this topic! This whole passion thing — Ponn is right on, it’s ridiculous to say that the only thing you need is passion. (To be honest, I’ve never heard anyone actually say that it’s the only thing, but if anyone has, silly them!)
Having agreed that it’s not the only thing, I still say passion is extremely important, but you have to ask yourself, passion for what? I think the mistake most entrepreneurs and business owners make is that their passion is for their business itself, or their product or service. They ‘”fall in love” with this thing they’ve created, their baby. (Haven’t you ever talked with someone about their product and it was obvious they were more interested — more passionate about — how fabulous and unique their product was than in figuring out if it was actually the right product for you, their customer?)
I think it’s awesome to be passionate about your actual product or service. (I am, that’s for sure!) But I say that what you really HAVE TO be passionate about if you are going to succeed long term is your customers. You have to love your customers, you have to be really excited about the difference you can make for them, the ways you can make their lives better, the relationships you are forming with them. If that is your biggest passion, then it gets fed and bolstered and energized every single day you do business.
Let’s face it, you can love your business, but it can’t love you back. Your customers can. When you’re really passionate about them and always focused on what you can do for them, my experience is that they do!
So I’m going to add a few new questions to Ponn’s list — I think about these all the time, as I work, as I add to my website, as I’m marketing. (It makes work, even the little stuff, way more fun! )
“How can I make a bigger difference in my clients’s lives?”
“What can I offer that will ‘make their day?’ ”
“How do I let them know how important they are to me?”
“How can I make them laugh or smile, right now?”
“What else can I give them — for free — that will have a positive impact on their lives?”
Whew — sorry for the looong reply, but what can I say, I’m passionate about this stuff!
YES! Like-Dah! If you didn’t have something valuable, constructive & fruitful to add to this dialogue/topic…you definitely would not be a succussful buisness coach, specifically for Women Entrepreneurs too.
Oh, and by the way: 1. You attract the people you’re most like. Hence, you attract clients must ideal to your practice Ann.
In the WIDE field on women entrepreneurs–girl! You better keep your eyes and ears open! Especially online. Woman Entrepreneur = Passion Woman. Passion = Profitability. In books…go in the Entrepreneurial section…its sickening!
My girl-friend/colleague and I were just basically screaming out to all this junk! And, yes–she writes, works for and by women entrepreneurs–so, we work HARD to develop resources necessary to women entrepreneurs to really grow, blossom and become profitable.
But, girl–there is no doubt in my mind why Women Entrepreneurs (W.E.) fall FAR behind in venture capital, business capitol and more! W.E. need resources, W.E. money, W.E. need tools, W.E. do NOT need any more networking orgs/assns strictly talking about Passion! [Yes, there there are women entrepreneur organizations and associations that promise dreams, take your membership dues, give you motivation or inspiration...but NO tools to get the job done! These are the "farms" I'm talking about!]
I’m SO happy you brought up the very necessary points about your customers (which can be translated to readers, subscribers, listeners, clients, employees, etc.) Sweet add-ons Ann. Geez–ya got me blushin’ for having noticed this post so much to add so fully to my points! Thanks
Great Topic. My husband and I are quite into being passionate at the things that we do. He works in the music business and has for 14ish years. He loves it, he is passionate about it. But like a good relationship, there are ups and downs and if a person expects the “feelings of passion” to sustain them through the bumps, bruises, and sucker punches, they are kidding themselves. Those are the times you focus on your goals and how to get there.
Same way for marriage! AND raising children.
Passion, while important, can’t be our only basis for success.
This is classic “if a person expects the “feelings of passion” to sustain them through the bumps, bruises, and sucker punches, they are kidding themselves. Those are the times you focus on your goals and how to get there.”
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Posted on September 18th, 2007 by Ponn Sabra
Filed under: Empowerment, Entrepreneurialism
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