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Turn Your Passion Into A Business

You have probably heard the saying «  Find what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. » and pictured yourself not having to worry about anything on earth but sunbathing in an island, sipping on coconut water and flooding everyone’s Instagram feed with photos of your dreamy body wearing Chanel, Gucci, Balmain, Valentino and other upscale fashion designers in paradisiac settings, while secretly rejoicing at the thought that the whole world might be envying you and your lavish lifestyle. Ah, how capitalism and marketing have shaped women’s desires!

Maybe reading this quote sparked your interest to try to build your career around your talent, but not knowing where to start, you gave up; or you thought such a “blessing” could never happen to you; or, after scratching your head for a while, trying to figure out which activity provides you so much joy that you would spend the rest of your life perpetuating it, regretfully came to the conclusion that you don’t have a passion.

Whichever your reaction to the idea of turning your hobby into a lucrative business is, know that it is possible to fulfill your dreams, whether you’re from a small town, have already tried and failed, or feel stuck in a difficult situation. However, there are a few things one needs to know about entrepreneurship. This article will hopefully set the record straight about some of the expectations, misconceptions and obstacles one might face along the way.

Too often people get into entrepreneurship assuming their talent will inevitably, easily and quickly lead them to success, then end up giving up when faced with their first obstacle. Okay, maybe not the first one, the second one. It is crucial to realize that running a business is a serious and full-time job.

Talent and passion are great to get started but will never be sufficient to help you climb the arduous mountain of success. You need to constantly be on top of your game, constantly upgrade your business and perfect your craft, constantly find ways to surprise your clients and keep them satisfied and most importantly, constantly keep your spirit uplifted even when your efforts seem to be vain, because you will feel hopeless and helpless at times. Entrepreneurship actually requires to work twice as hard as one would if they were to be employed in someone else’s company and the stress level is as high because while the monthly pay-check is assured as an employee, it is not as a novice entrepreneur; the startup might take months, or years to be profitable. Entrepreneurship takes hard work, commitment and resilience.

Entrepreneurship means you alone, at the beginning anyway, do the job of at least seven people: product development, community management, customer relationship management, web designing, other marketing tasks as well as sales and financial ones.

Being a successful entrepreneur requires you to have a deep rooted, unwavering hunger for seeing your vision come to life and not ever giving up until your efforts prove fruitful, whether it takes a month, a year, or more.

There is nothing more exciting than the creative process of bringing one’s vision to life, nothing more gratifying than seeing the results of months or years of efforts pay off even in the smallest ways: one more follower on the company’s social media channels, one more purchase, getting a positive comment from a stranger claiming your product helped them; there is no greater life lesson than the ones learned from getting out of one’s comfort zone to become who they’ve always wanted to be and build the life of their dreams. In philosopher Goethe’s words: Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back — concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

How to get started?

Think about how you could use your talent to fill a gap in the market. And if you feel like companies already exists in that field, don’t be discouraged: people might choose your products over someone else’s simply because they like your personality and your know-how better. Easier said than done but keep in mind that nothing great was ever achieved in a rush or easily. Don’t be discouraged.

One important rule that never fails: let your instinct be the compass for your entrepreneurial endeavors. Never go against it, you might regret it.

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