Running Your Solo Biz: What's Passion Got to Do with It?

The other day I was chatting with some of my colleagues—fellow solopreneurs all—and the topic of discussion moved to our passions. My massage therapist friend gestured wildly as she talked about freeing people from their pain and giving them a one-hour vacation from stress. My financial advisor pal had a gleam in his eye (yes, we're talking a financial guy here!) when he described the satisfaction of, as he called it, financial architecture: taking the modest nest egg of a widow nearing retirement and building a portfolio that gives her a nice monthly income for the rest of her life. For me, as the editor of marketingyoursmallbiz.com, it is the fun of "mining for gold," discovering the new, best-of-the-best marketing ideas and figuring out how to help solopreneurs use them to increase sales.

It got me thinking. We all started our businesses because we wanted to do something. Maybe it was to help people solve a particular problem. Maybe it was because we were sure that there was a better way to make or do something. Or maybe we just found a way to turn what we love to do and think about into an income stream.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our daily tasks and challenges we forget why we started our business in the first place. And that’s a really important thing to remember. Because when you communicate to your prospects and customers, if the spark isn’t there, if they don’t feel your passion for what you do, how can you expect them to get excited about your product or service?