Six Tips to Turn Your Passion into Profit

1. Don't count on passion alone.
While enthusiasm is a great place to start, it's not enough to sustain your business for the long term. Before launching your business, do a reality check and make sure you have the other components needed for success, such as a willingness to work hard and a market for your services or products.
 Sometimes passion can blind you to the potential downside of your idea. 
 Get as much feedback from potential customers as possible. No matter how great you think the idea is, you still need to understand what your market thinks. However, that alone won't guarantee success.Entrepreneurs who want to turn their hobbies into a business must be aware of the following things:
Be good at what your business does. "This is probably not an issue if the primary work of the business is your passion," "But we have seen too many people buy a franchise or start a business only to discover that they didn't like or weren't good at the primary work of the business.

Remember the details. There are tons of ancillary functions that go along with running a business that must be performed well for it to succeed. These may include ordering inventory, paying the bills, invoicing customers, keeping the books, sweeping the floor, marketing and selling. "You will need a plan for accomplishing these tasks."You can do them yourself if you have the inclination and the skill set. You can outsource them if the cash flow of the business will allow that. Or, you could take on a partner to perform some of the functions."

Dole out responsibility. When the business grows, you'll have a choice to make: You'll either have to delegate the primary work to others, or you may choose to delegate managing the operation to someone else so you can continue to focus on the primary work yourself.

2. Hire passionate people.
Having employees who share your zeal for the business will help your company succeed.
By hiring others who share your devotion, you'll be able to trust the business to your employees as it grows, rather than insisting on having your hands in every endeavor.

3. Share your passion.
If you have a hobby, likely there are others out there who share that interest and would like to learn more about it. Sharing your knowledge can be a great way to build your business.

 4. Keep the passion alive.
Once your business gets going, you can become mired in the daily tasks of running a company and watch your original excitement dry up. "Keep your passion alive by staying involved in the aspects you love most.Spending too much time on repetitive tasks you can delegate to others will ultimately dampen your enthusiasm and end up burning you out. Remember the elements you loved most at the start of your business, such as creating a new design or a product or meeting new customers in hobbyist groups, and make a conscious effort to include at least some of those activities in your ongoing role. Otherwise, your work will turn into a form of drudgery that may kill your passion for the original hobby."

 5. Prioritize fun.
Naturally, entrepreneurs who start businesses based on their interests find their business to be fun, but keeping it fun takes a bit of work. "There's a palpable difference between companies that have a culture led by a truly passionate entrepreneur and those that use passion and fun as sales and recruiting gimmicks. "In the authentically passionate companies, everything grows from that passion, including the people, policies, branding and community relations. That obsessive focus on whatever it is that gets you out of bed can't be faked, but it takes work to create the circumstances under which it can thrive. Maintaining primacy of mission and having the strength to stay on course and avoid distractions is critical.




Source: www.entrepreneur.com