Posted on June 28, 2018By AlexEditor's Pick, Purpose

George Burns once said, “I’d rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.." We’re all passionate about something in our lives, but the question is how to turn that passion into a profit? Here is a list of different ways in which you can do so.

It takes more than just passion- Even though passion is always a great place to start when thinking about business ideas, you need to also make sure that you’re willing to put in the work and if there is a big enough market for your idea. Also, make sure you’re good enough at whatever it is you want to do.  Your passion could be playing the guitar, but are you skilled enough to give lessons or repair the instrument when it’s broken?

How can you make your idea better- Let’s go back to the example about playing the guitar, how can your passion help fill a missing hole in the market? For example, if you can repair guitars and realize that there isn’t a repair shop anywhere else around, that could be a business opportunity. As a business owner, you need to keep asking yourself how you can make your industry better. Let’s say that your passion is cooking. What makes your meals unique? Why are they better than the other cooks in town? Maybe it’s because you only use farm fresh ingredients and pick out the produce and meats yourself every morning. That’s definitely more appealing for customers than driving up to a fast food restaurant’s window.

Brainstorm ways to monetize your passion- Take a moment to consider multiple ways in which you can make money and profit off of your passion. This may include:

• Selling an actual product, such as jewelry, clothing or furniture, online or in a brick and mortar store.
• Sharing your knowledge about your passion by blogging, writing books or filming videos. Between affiliate links, sponsors and subscribers, you could make a decent living. For example, the father and son behind EvanTubeHD combined their passion of film and toys into a YouTube channel that reviews toys. They’re now earning more than $1.4 million.
• Offering advice as a consultant in anything from accounting to gardening.
• Becoming an investor in an idea that you’re willing to financially support.
• Inventing a gadget or software that makes life easier for people. For example, if you were a guitar instructor, is there an app to better instruct students or a new type of tuner that could make tuning the guitar easier for newbies?
• Building an event around your passion, such as a festival or community organization.
• Finding ways to preserve or maintain items that people enjoy, such as an alteration or tailor shop for fashion lovers.

Don’t be a perfectionist- You should not wait to start your business and follow your passion until after mastering the craft. While you should possess a decent amount of knowledge towards your passion, there’s always room for improvement. For example, the guitar repair shop owner may have mastered repairing acoustic guitars, but still needs to work on repairing electric guitars.

Don’t wait be a perfectionist and wait on fulfilling your purpose. It is important to realize that you will continue to hone your skills all along your journey.

It is very important in life that everyone finds what they’re passionate about what their purpose is. After coming to this realization, it is important to think of possible ways to turn your passion into a profitable business. People that are doing what they love in life while also making profit from it usually end up being very successful. Consider turning you passion into your own business and uses the steps listed above for guidance.

Did you find this information useful? Let us know in the comments. If you have any other finance questions, you can turn to our Purpose Forum or connect with our partners at our Purpose Directory.

Want to submit your own article or request an article from our writers? Submit a request here!

Related