We all start our businesses with the passion of a teenage love affair. We become obsessed and dive in 24/7, roll up our sleeves and blast our way into the world of small business without much experience or know-how. And good thing too, because it’s our passion and obsession that drives us, and knowing our “thing” gets us through the challenges and inspires those around us.
However, I often hear things like, “I’ve lost my passion” or “I just don’t think this is working for me anymore”. A fair comment because as your business grows and changes it can become routine and the day-to-day grind overtakes the excitement. Over time we lose our passion for it.
Knowing why you do what you do, and what drives you is a major trait of success because if you don’t love your business, it becomes hard work. Like any marriage or relationship, it takes effort to keep it fresh and it’s not unusual to fall out of love every so often. And it’s okay – because it happens to best of us.
So what can you do to re-spark the flame and re-find your passion? Here’re four things to get you thinking.
1) Understand that your business changes
When people start a business, the excitement usually comes from the adventure of tackling something new and of the unexpected. But as a business grows the newness wears off and the adventurous nature of it subsides. Which doesn’t mean the passion and excitement is over for good, it just means you need to tweak it or try something new with it. Why not try find new adventure in it, or a new aspect of the business, like tackling a new market, or redesigning what you do so you can scale or leverage it more.
2) Ask why you started the business in the first place
Rewind to when you started and ask what was it that turned you on back then. We all start businesses for different reasons. To build and sell, to have a level of freedom, or because having a business allowed you to do what you really love doing. For me and my wife it was to never get caught up in the nine-to-five world, not that we’re scared of hard work but because we wanted to have control of our days and our life. We’ve had five businesses and that one thing has never changed. So maybe it’s time to revisit and think about “what’s your thing?”
3) Understand that you change
It may seem like a contradiction to the previous point but maybe ‘your thing’ has changed. Just as a business changes and grows, so do you and the passion you started with might not be the same passion now. That’s okay. I don’t think there is a rule anywhere that you have to stick with your passion or “thing” your entire life.
4) Know that love grows, and you can nurture it
Sometimes we are not passionate about something because we’re not used to it. In other words, the more you do something, the more comfortable you get with it, the more you like it. I know heaps of people who claim they hated selling and only did it because they had to survive – but overtime they grew to love it. I know CEOs who never wanted to step away from the day-to-day mechanics of running business but overtime grew to love the role of leader. Sometimes you just need to fall in love with the process and let the passion grow
Nigel Collin, Business Coach and author of “Game of Inches
