Does a business need passion in order to thrive? Why do companies with a leader who is truly passionate about the business fail, while others with the same level of passion and a less compelling business model prosper and grow? Is there a magical formula that makes one business successful while another fails? What separates the winners from the losers, and what role does passion play?
There are several ingredients that go into a winning business, including a great idea, a great team, great passion, and great leadership. All are important, but great passion can be the fire that helps fuel the success. It can also destroy the business when it is misguided.
WATCH THE FIRE
Like all fires, passions can spark other flames and become contagious, igniting the passion of investors, business partners, and customers, as well as employees. If left uncontrolled, passion can consume, destroy, and leave a business with an empty dream. However, when controlled, directed, and focused, it can boost a business’s chance for success. It isn’t, however, the only important ingredient. In fact, time after time, when I’ve asked many venture capitalists and business professionals to identify the most critical factor, they’ve responded, “It’s the team that makes the difference.” A great business idea alone will not make a business profitable, but a passionate team that has the vision and the ability to execute the idea, even if the idea is only pretty good, can help a company achieve success. A winning team has a passionate leader and a team that is equally committed to achieving success.
So is there a magic formula? Is it 50 percent passionate team and 50 percent concept? What’s missing in this formula? It’s the team’s ability to execute on the idea. This ability is fueled by passion, vision, experience, and focusing on customer needs. It’s the use of basic business principles that makes the difference when this is done properly. Therefore, in order to be successful in business, you don’t have to come up with the most ingenious and creative business concept. You must have a solid concept that satisfies a need, and you must be able to properly funnel your passion to execute the plan. There’s no magic, but these elements must exist.
The failure to fuel your passion, however, can cause you to skip or dismiss one of these basic principles. In fact, that’s where you see really smart businesspeople with good intentions make fatal errors in judgment. The difference lies in the use of the passion. It must be directed constructively, with the business in mind and not individual desires and goals. Passion can also be misdirected when you’re caught up in the day-to-day activities of your business and don’t take the opportunity to sit back and think about how to focus your energy.
Joanna Alberti’s business, philoSophie’s® (www.sophiesphilosophies.com), is a good example of the importance of taking time to reflect on your business goals and where you want to direct your passion. In fact, philoSophie’s is a successful start-up greeting card company launched by owner and entrepreneur Joanna Alberti. In 2005, at the age of 24, Joanna was recognized by BusinessWeek as one of the top five young entrepreneurs under 25. Known for her whimsical designs and her humorous illustrations depicting women and their interests, Joanna’s style and creativity fueled her passion to launch a greeting card business just one year after receiving her college degree. As a business mentor to Joanna (a 2003 graduate of the BU School of Management), I had the unique opportunity to work with her as she developed her business model. I also watched her struggle as she worked 20-hour days at her business; often coming into my office covered in glitter from the greeting cards she had hand-embellished. She was doing it all, but was she doing too much?
Joanna was trying to launch her business in so many venues that she was not taking the time to determine who her customers were, why they were buying from her, and what need she satisfied. She was trying to get into as many markets as possible without thinking about which of them made the most sense for her limited budget and time. She was clearly spread too thin and was unable to prioritize her marketing efforts and focus on growing fast and efficiently and on targeting the most likely prospects with the least amount of money.
She became overwhelmed by the day-to-day aspects of the business and lost sight of the big picture. Not all of her customers were desirable, but her passion to become known in the industry and reach as much of the market as possible, and not necessarily the right parts of the market, led to her overlooking the best opportunities for sales and growth.
In stepping back to look at the big picture, she decided to bring in a team of business advisors to help her determine which strategies would generate the greatest revenue and return on her time and financial investment. By assessing the effectiveness of her current strategy for expanding philoSophie’s in both new and existing markets and then identifying how to most efficiently allocate her time Joanna was able to maximize the available sales channels and products to get the greatest return on her time and money.
Most business owners, like Joanna are so busy with the day-to-day management of their company that they don’t realize the importance of finding unbiased, skilled advisors who can objectively help them focus their business passion to reach their goals more rapidly, more efficiently, and with greater overall success. If you’re like Joanna, make sure you spend the time finding advisors to help you shape your company’s and ensure your passion fuels your success, not your demise.
Beth Goldstein is Founder and President of Marketing Edge Consulting Group, LLC (www.m-edge.com). She has over 22 years experience in marketing, sales and business development and is the author of “The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit.” In addition to consulting she oversees Boston University’s Online Certificate in Entrepreneurship, teaches entrepreneurial sales & marketing at the BU School of Management and is the Instructor for the InnerCity Entrepreneurs business growth program in central Massachusetts. Beth can be reached at bethg@m-edge.com or by phone: 508.893.0976
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