What is the simplest formula for financial success? It is simply “Doing what you love, and loving what you do.” In fact Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher is credited with the following statement, “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Maya Angelou is quoted to have said, “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” These days too many people are trapped doing what they don’t love which leads to failure. The truth is you will always be successful doing what you love.
You need to start doing what you love to do today. Rhonda Byrne sums it up when she said, “When you love what you do, money follows. Your passion represents what you love to do. A more common word normally used is hobby. This might just be the step if properly articulated could lead you to a life of uncommon financial success.
I would like to start by making two statements that are true about everyone. The first is that everyone has a passion, something that they love to do; and the second is that no matter what that passion is it can be exchanged for money. I don’t care if it is bird watching, strolling on the beach or climbing tall buildings; these passions.
Before we delve into how to these passions into profit you must first get clarity on what your passions are. Sit down and draw up a list of things you love to do. What are your likes? What do you enjoy doing? What would you like doing even if you don’t get paid for it? These questions, when you have clear answers to them will point out what you are passionate about. There will definitely be more than one; the key is to pick out the most important one out of the lot.
Ali Brown, a self-made entrepreneur and Inc. 500-ranked CEO in her excellent article “8 ways to turn your passion into profit,” demonstrates how to make money from one of your hobbies or passions. Using the example of someone who loves fashion and gardening these eight approaches below can create wealth:
1. Just Do It – Many business owners often jump right into this one-to-one, “Do-It-Yourself” (aka DIY) business model. Someone who likes fashion thinks, “I’ll be a fashion designer, and design my own clothes.” Someone who wrote gardening might think, “I’ll be a professional gardener, or landscape architect.” Again, nothing wrong with these ideas, but there are other ways to tap into your passions,
2. Sell It – Another option is to come up with products that you could sell that relate directly, or indirectly, to your passion. For the fashion example, you could open a brick and mortar boutique or an online business, where you sell other designers’ clothing. Or, for the gardening example, you could open a floral shop, or a nursery that sells trees or outdoor fountains or specialty tools and supplies.
3. Talk About It – Here’s where you leverage your passion or knowledge on the topic by getting paid to share information on it. A blog is a great example. Just think of all the fashionistas-turned-bloggers online who earn a living by offering their perspectives on the latest fashion trends or tips for the budget conscious shopper. Many experts out there built their status on certain topics by writing books and articles, making presentations, filming television shows, documentaries, etc. on a topic they felt passionate about. As a gardener, you could teach a class on gardening, or review the latest tools and supplies.
4. Offer Advice On It – As a consultant, you can bring your expertise directly to a client by working with them one-on-one. The distinguishing factor here is that you are offering a customized solution for a particular client or situation. For fashion, this could be working as a stylist, or style consultant. As a gardening aficionado, one could offer their gardening expertise for model homes, wedding halls, or private estates.
5. Invest In It – When you take an investor/owner role, you are putting your resources towards a venture or property relating to your passion, with the hopes of making a profit on it. If you have an interest in fashion, you could help fund a budding fashion designer’s collection, in return for a percentage of profits. Or, you could rent out a warehouse space for a sample sale, or a runway fashion show. In the gardening industry you might sell or offer a lot of land in exchange for a percentage of produce sold.
6. Make Technology For It – A clever way to find your niche is to think of something that would improve the industry. Is there some machinery, or technology you could create that would make life easier for those in the fashion or gardening industry? A database to help track orders for plants, a drawing application for designers, for example? And don’t forget about the budding online and mobile application industry. You could create an application to help people plan their daily outfit, design their dream gardens, and more.
7. Build a Community/Event Around It – Here, you’re thinking of ways to rally live people around your passion. As a fashion lover, you could host a fashion show, inviting budding fashion students to showcase their talent, organize trunk shows or in-home accessory parties, where women could buy and sell vintage pieces. As a gardener, you could start a community organization that beautifies impoverished neighborhoods; teach workshops on flower arrangements, etc. The idea is to offer access to a community where people share the same passion as you, charging them on a per-head or per class basis, depending on the format you decide on.
8. Maintain It – Many people make a living by offering services that help preserve or maintain what they’re passionate about. For the fashion lover this could be a laundering service, or a tailor/alteration shop. For a market full of avid gardeners, creating a new formula for plant food could be quite the success story, or a service caring for plants while people are on vacation.
It is clear from the above that you could even spin off several business ideas from just one of your passions. Resolve to act now and take steps to put this in place as soon as possible. Wealth cannot be far from the person who turns his passion into profit.
CULLED FROM BUSINESSDAY
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