You’ve got an idea, you feel confident about said idea, now you’re wondering whether to pursue or move on. Before you consider starting a business you are passionate about, there are several questions to seriously consider.
1. Does the process excite me?
Can you imagine living a life without passion? If that’s your current situation, you’ll know how difficult it is to feel relaxed, creative, content. Passion makes us excited – it makes us get out of bed each morning with a smile. So in business, yes it’s important. But really ask yourself… what am I actually passionate about?
If it’s the hopeful end result: Success, financial reward, happy clients… how long can your excitement sustain? Because to grow a business, you have to get on board with the beginning stages. And the stages thereafter. Your passion needs to potentially sustain a few years of struggle.
2. Do I have the resources needed?
Do you have the time to commit? Do you have the income needed for marketing? Can you afford legal advice? Can you afford to outsource team members? Are you aware of what money and investment you’ll need to get your business up and running? Do you have the right qualifications and training experiences? These questions may require a business coach which again, affects your finances.
As a Forbes article states, you have to make purchases such as registering a business name and website.
To help answer these questions, write down each aspect of a business that persuades you to want to start. If most of your interest lies in creativity (design, logos, brand name, etc.,), you’ll know there’s a chance you’ll need support with other characteristics like website building and budgeting. If most of your passion stems from working with clients, you may want to invest in people putting together marketing.
3. Will my passion idea reach my financial expectations?
Answering this question requires market research. What are your financial goals? When starting a business you are passionate about – you have to question if your passion has a price point. For instance, let’s say my passion is lemonade (I’m crazy about the way lemons can produce such a perfect drink). Let’s also say to achieve my money goals (new home, car, yearly holiday), I need my homemade lemonade to sell 1,000 units a day. Doesn’t that sound farfetched?
If I was to seriously pursue this, I’d certainly need help. How will I get this lemonade onto supermarket shelves?
While my example isn’t the best, it backs up the question. Take time to look at your current situation (your present job, lifestyle), and work out what you financially expect. What’s going to be worth it? Realistically, your idea will take time to create money. Will you be okay swapping your relaxation time for a business that gives you no financial jackpot?
4. Is my passion too similar to someone else’s?
You can’t copyright an idea. Many companies have to continually compete against similar competition. McDonalds and Burger King, Apple and Microsoft, Netflix and Hulu. But every successful brand competing in the market has their own niche.
Where has your idea come from? In what ways does it offer something new to what’s already out there? And importantly, what can you make better? If you’re idea has been produced several times already (for instance, a filter app for social media), how can you convince people to switch from what they’re using?
Another consideration: Is your idea one that can be created locally? Meaning, is your hometown in desperate need of your restaurant plan or your incredible cake making shop? Or, are you going to need a grander audience reach from the offset?
Look at what’s going on in your chosen industry both on a small and larger scale. Are these businesses thriving or struggling?
5. Does my idea have customers already lined up?
When starting a business you are passionate about, it’s easy to head straight to friends and family as your first customers. However, let’s pretend for a moment they’re not around. Loved ones may be your first customers, but they’re not going to be your most ideal. They might end up supporting you as a favour or because they’ll feel guilty if they say no.
You want your customers to buy your idea purely for loving it as much as you. Have you met such customers before? Are they on your social media, on a contact card from a networking event, or at your local Sunday market? You’ll want to know your customers and their behaviour inside out. Once you have a plan of your exact demographic, look at who you is your life already and if they describe your dream clientele.
6. Starting a business you are passionate about: What will make it a success?
On your business plan, what does a first year of success look like? Beyond finances, what other expectations have you planned? To make a passionate idea a successful one, you have to know what that success looks like. When you’re clear on that, you’ll find it’s much easier to work. For instance, if you’re business success has a global audience, how will this audience show itself? On an Instagram and blog following; at a shop you aim to build?
Overall tips:
- Research competitors and your target customers.
- Know the skills and experience required to gain clientele trust.
- Understand your idea’s present and future market.
- Work out a financial budget.
- Decide how to tackle each business aspect from website building to filling out a self-assessment form.
- Work out a plan if failures occur.
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