Why “Follow Your Passion” Is Bad Business Advice
Passion is powerful, but only after you build the engine that pays for the journey.
Lesson: The Advice I Wish Someone Had Challenged Earlier
One piece of business advice I strongly disagree with is “follow your passion.” It sounds inspiring, but for first-time founders it’s often unrealistic and unfair. The odds of being passionate about something, being good at it, having people pay for it, and building a profitable business around it? Extremely low. Passion can help you push through hard times, yes, but relying on it as the strategy is a gamble most people can’t afford.
Insight: Passion Comes After Stability, Not Before
- Skill + Value > Passion Alone: Start with what you’re naturally good at and what the market will pay for. That intersection creates leverage, not hope.
- Cash Flow Buys Freedom: A profitable, systematized business becomes a safety net. With stability, you can pursue passion projects without risking your livelihood.
- Entrepreneurship Is Not Glamorous: The ups are fun, but the downs are brutal. A passion-first approach often blinds founders to risk, volatility, and the real cost of early-stage survival.
Passion isn’t the foundation of a business. It’s the reward for building one that keeps you alive long enough to pursue it.
Action Item: Build the Sequence That Works
- List the Skills You Can Monetize Today - Choose the ones people already pay for or would easily pay for.
- Turn One Into a Productized Offer - Systematize it, price it, and deliver it consistently until it cash flows.
- Use That Stability To Fund Your Passion - Start the passion project once the income works without you.
Passion is powerful, but only after you build the engine that pays for the journey.
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