I'm at Gloria Jean's at Plaza Singapura one day and I overhear a conversation between a group of people. Two are mutual acquaintances and the third, an entrepreneurial consultant. One, a young lady, was looking to start her own business of selling chocolate, and so after all the small talk and the introductions and the sharing of what you do and what I do, came this question from the entrepreneurial consultant: "Why do you want to do this?"
Her answer was one that I've heard many a time before: "Because I love chocolate." His response is also one that I've heard equally as many times before: "That's a good reason."
Okay, let's get this straight.
I don't have an issue when someone says they love something and they love it enough to want to run a business out of it.
That's how products are born. Where there's no such thing existing, make one. That's also how businesses are born. Where there's a product but there's no localized distribution and thereby no marketing and thereby no awareness, bring the d*** product in and market it and sell it and get it out to the consumers.
I don't have an issue when someone says that they faced this need and therefore they did their research and either created a product, or sought out a manufacturer and distributed it.
That's the economy of business, and it forms the bedrock of my living needs.
But flags do raise in my head when I hear of people saying that they're doing a business because they 'love' the product- and then they stop there. Maybe an appropriate follow-up question is: How much of this product do you love?
I'm going to be candid here.
Whilst lots of successful business people tell us that passion is what drives them to do what they do- and they have solid backing to prove just how passionate they are- this reason is not going to be good enough for everyone. You can't simply go around plonking this word at meetings as if it is good enough a reason to start your business, especially when you've not even experienced your first business challenge yet. At this phase, those listening to you will probably whip out the measuring gauge and measure (or define) how much passion there is in their definition of 'passion'.
What I'm saying is that passion alone is not the crux of success. It drives you to carry on, but that's not the only component that determines whether you're gonna make it or not. Even if you do have a niche, hey, you're not going to be only person in the whole wide world who likes this thing, isn't it, and since there's bound to be someone else, it means that there's bound to be a business opportunity for them too. Frankly, there would be more success stories out there if every successful business was operated based on passion alone.
Her answer was one that I've heard many a time before: "Because I love chocolate." His response is also one that I've heard equally as many times before: "That's a good reason."
Okay, let's get this straight.
I don't have an issue when someone says they love something and they love it enough to want to run a business out of it.
That's how products are born. Where there's no such thing existing, make one. That's also how businesses are born. Where there's a product but there's no localized distribution and thereby no marketing and thereby no awareness, bring the d*** product in and market it and sell it and get it out to the consumers.
I don't have an issue when someone says that they faced this need and therefore they did their research and either created a product, or sought out a manufacturer and distributed it.
That's the economy of business, and it forms the bedrock of my living needs.
But flags do raise in my head when I hear of people saying that they're doing a business because they 'love' the product- and then they stop there. Maybe an appropriate follow-up question is: How much of this product do you love?
I'm going to be candid here.
Whilst lots of successful business people tell us that passion is what drives them to do what they do- and they have solid backing to prove just how passionate they are- this reason is not going to be good enough for everyone. You can't simply go around plonking this word at meetings as if it is good enough a reason to start your business, especially when you've not even experienced your first business challenge yet. At this phase, those listening to you will probably whip out the measuring gauge and measure (or define) how much passion there is in their definition of 'passion'.
What I'm saying is that passion alone is not the crux of success. It drives you to carry on, but that's not the only component that determines whether you're gonna make it or not. Even if you do have a niche, hey, you're not going to be only person in the whole wide world who likes this thing, isn't it, and since there's bound to be someone else, it means that there's bound to be a business opportunity for them too. Frankly, there would be more success stories out there if every successful business was operated based on passion alone.
We can have all the drive and the love and the yearning to get it out there, but there comes a point in the whole business cycle that we ask this one question of ourselves: "what the s*** am I doing this for anyway?!?!?!"
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| chocolates! |
That's the time where you got to give yourself an answer because no way can you shirk from the question. Even if you tried, circumstances won't let you.
You could have had a great love for it and you could have got a niche market for it- or at least you KNOW you've got a niche market for it. You could have gone around telling everyone you meet that you've started this and when asked why, given an answer that goes round the thread of: i love it. and since i love it, i want to share it.
When asked if it's a lot of work, you agree, and you add on to it saying that it's totally fun, it's totally exciting and that keeps you going. I don't doubt that- the functions of business are a fairly thrilling one. There're just so many things to look at. There's retail, there's distribution, there's marketing, there's sales. There's a lot of talking about it, there's a lot of writing about it, there's a lot of telling everyone about it. For a while it seems great, cos' it seems like everyone loves it. It seems like everyone's writing about it and everyone is telling everyone about it.
But... what happens when they change their minds? What happens when channel partners and vendors and etc. change their minds? What happens when Everyone changes their minds? And what happens when in the quiet of the day's close you sit at your work desk and you stare hard at your day gone by and you realise that your song, your story, your article, your picture was really nothing more than:- managing, directing, supervising, expanding, costs, the calculator, the spreadsheets, marketing, hiring, firing, legal, nonlegal and every nitty gritty task that business commitment calls forth.
And (let's call this horrific thought a bucket of ice cold water, shall we..) what happens when the cartons and boxes of stuff that you so love- it can be organic shampoo or rice chips or chocolate or safflower oil or slippers or electronic gadgets or popping candy etc. etc. are packed to the brim in the warehouse cos' no one wants them and you're going to be with inventory costs and depreciation costs if you don't get them out of the d*** warehouse soon?
And what happens when your numbers sing no longer look so friendly and welcoming and exciting to you, because it does happen and it can happen?
Will your passion still be there?
I hope it still will.
Because no one else owes you a passion. No one owes you loyalty. Even if there's a shared love, even if there's a shared need, there are always competitors. There are always better products out there. There are always varieties. And your customers have every right to jump ship. They don't owe s*** to you.
That's the time where you'd better believe in yourself, and you'd better believe in what you do. Because no one should and no one will. Yeah, it's a d*** lonely journey, it's a journey that you'll spend your time hoping beyond hope that others will share the love with you, but hey, that's love. That's real love.