Lesson #3.1 Entrepreneurship 101: From Passion to Profit

For those of you interested in entrepreneurship I hope you have been giving some serious thought to my last post about never thinking your dream is impossible.

This week I have even more interesting thoughts to share from my Entrepreneurship for Communication Industry class. Our guest speaker was Mr. Fabian Brian, the president of the Young Entrepreneurship Association in Jamaica, and CEO and founder of Value Added Services.

What stood out most from the seminar, and what I want to share with those reading is the value of today. What do I mean by that? Mr. Brian did an exercise with the class that I want you guys to do now. Get two items (phone, pen, flash-drive etc.). Place one in each hand. Think of what is in your left hand as your Past, and what is in your right hand as your Future. The question now is, how will you hold on to Today?

So let's forget about tomorrow or even later and start right now!

Putting Passion to Action

You may be feeling a bit intimidated and are wondering why do I want to run my own company anyways? When you begin thinking of the effort needed to start a business it does not sound that much fun anymore, right? But what if you were making money doing something you were passionate about?

The first step to becoming an entrepreneur is finding the right business venture. While nothing is wrong with making money, doing something just because it will make you money will not be motivation enough to get you out of bed in the mornings.

As Mr. Brian explained, "If you make your passion your business, you'll never work a day in your life."

The next step is then taking that passion and turning it into something that will add value to people's lives. People will only pay you for your passion if it is being used to benefit them in some way.

So here is your challenge for today

1. Take out a piece of paper and write down five of your favorite hobbies, interests or passions.
2. Place a check mark next to the ones that could help people.
3. Brainstorm ideas for why people would pay you to do something with that passion.
4. Figure out how you can start a business around that passion as a service.
5. Talk to a parent, friend, mentor about your idea.
6. If they think it’s solid, sleep on it.
7. If it’s a good idea, it will be hard to sleep  .
8. If you’re still thinking about it in the morning, you’re on to something.

The above steps were taken from an interesting article on how to start a business, with the tagline, 'because money is better without the job'. It is a ten day guide on how to start your own business. I recommend anyone really interested in entrepreneurship to click on the link, sign up (its free!!!) and begin taking action.

Remember, don't be afraid think outside the box. Throw away the box for all I care! That's the true difference between an entrepreneur and a mere business owner. An entrepreneur takes a business one step further by offering something innovative with the potential to expand in a big way.

Formula for Success

So how do you ensure that your business remains successful and relevant? Mr. Brian shared his formula for success which I will now share with you:

The communication business landscape is forever changing. To ensure that your enterprise smoothly rides the waves of change, you must be innovative and creative. Do not be afraid to ride out beyond the rest, to push yourself to the limit... that's how you catch the big waves.

Enough with the surfing analogies now. All I am saying is that with a little creativity, turning your passion into action is more than possible. So what are you waiting for? GET GOING!!! 

Until next  time, School's Out, Learning's In!

"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested." - E. M. Forster