9 Reasons Why Making A Business Out Of Something You Love Is A Mistake

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Many people will argue that starting a business out of your competencies and synergies is the right thing to do.  They will argue that a business based on one’s strength is going to save costs in production, and save time. That has some truth in it, since one dives into the business with a lot of enthusiasm.

Resources to Start the Business.

You may have a splendid idea and have a passion for it, but if you lack the right resources you will find it hard to succeed. Every business requires capital to buy the raw materials, and for other resources like employees.

Capital is a major requirement, so it is better to build startup capital and resources before you start. This is one of the major reasons why starting a business out of what you love is a mistake. Related: money to start a business.

Lack of market for your product.

You may not find a market for your product. This is a downfall for any business. Making what you love could be good for you, but the main question you should ask yourself is “Who will buy the product?” and “Who is your target market?”

This will require you to conduct market research on the target niche of your product, and the income expected from the sales. Rather than having a great idea on how you can introduce your own product, it is recommended you use your competencies to improve what is already in the market, in order to compete.

Lack of experience to start the business.

Starting the business from what you love comes with a challenge of experience in handling the business. You require experience to handle different circumstances and challenges that you may face along the way.

This may cause the business to fail, since you have no past events you can refer to in instances of risk mitigation, risk handling or even business downfall. The challenges are not predefined, as risks can occur and are not expected.  

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Finding the right people to work with.

Finding people with the same vision as you is difficult. This is because people have different tastes and preferences, and maybe what you like is not what the other likes. This is a major challenge you could face, especially in finding the resources to work with.

It could be better if you find a general idea that many people could agree to. This will simplify the task of finding people to work with. You can also find people to brainstorm ideas with that will improve the idea you had.

Lack of adequate management in your idea.

As the sole proprietor of your business idea, it will be difficult to have people work with a passion for your idea. They may fail to have your perspective of how the business should run, so delegation of some managerial tasks could be impossible.

This leaves you as the only manager. Coordinating the work alone could be stressful and tiresome. You might end up hating what you were passionate about, and some of the work might end up not being properly done. This is a challenge for the business.

People could reject your idea

Businesses are started from market needs. Solving the market need is more important than getting people’s support for your passion. It is rather difficult to convince customers to take in your idea as a substitute, especially if there is a product already on the market. Not all people will embrace your idea.

Convincing your customers to embrace your vision for the business could take a long time, and they may fail to understand your reasons. What the market requires is how you can fix what they need, and not what you can make. Do not make the market about what you want for the market.

Frustrations in the job.

It is very easy to get frustrations from anything you are passionate about. This is because you expect everything to be perfect. You end up being too controlling and when the business does not go as you want, you feel crushed. It may be difficult to recover from that.

You might end up incurring huge losses, dissolving your assets or even losing the whole business. Competition in the market will not care that your venture is your all-time dream. So, it is not wise to turn your personal life into your business life.

What you love will not provide for you.

At no given moment will your hobbies provide for you. They will motivate you to work better, but they will not manage the resources you have. Being passionate about what you love is different from professionalism in a career. Relying on passion in your job is not a great idea. You will, at some point, have to come up with a new idea, build it and face challenges head on - as well as adapt strategies used by various institutions to generate income. In the business world, staying strong and accepting challenges is part of life.

You will not have time for what you Love.

Investing in what you love consumes your time, and instead of enjoying your hobby you will end up developing a hatred for your passion. The chances of questioning your business idea are high. This is brought about by the responsibilities you will have to handle as an entrepreneur. For example, you will have to be the human resource manager, the accountant, the purchasing and supply manager and the overall head of the business.

Summing it up

It is always good to have something that distracts from your daily job. A hobby is a good way to relax your mind. It is an activity that you enjoy like swimming, reading novels, baking, cooking and singing.

When you try to materialize these hobbies and make money out of them, you will be destroying the purpose of the hobbies. It is not wrong to borrow an idea from what you love and try to invest in it but in the long run, you may end up failing in your business.

A market is a place where one party (seller) is meeting the needs, wants and demands of another party (buyer). You can either come up with a new solution to fix a new need in the market, or improve a solution already out there - like coming up with a substitute product for an existing product. The reason why it is not good to make a business out of something you love is that;

  • You will lack the time to do what you love.

  • You may end up getting frustrated when the idea you are investing in does not go as you wanted it to be.

  • You may find it difficult to find people to work with.

  • The resources you require might not be readily available and are costly.

  • You may lack a market for your idea which will be a total loss of your time and resources.

  • Managing the whole project will be stressful

As an entrepreneur you need to study these reasons why making a business out of something you love is a mistake, and weigh up whether you are willing to take the risk.

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Posted 11 September, 2017

NickGolding

Entrepreneur & Creator

Nick is the Entrepreneur Correspondent for Freelancer.com. He is based in Sydney, NYC, & London. His life consists of frequent flyer points.

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