The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future (9 page)

Benny says he gets paid for learning languages, but as you can see, there’s more to the story: He actually gets paid for helping people. True, the inspirational side is important (people enjoy watching and sharing his videos), but without the helpfulness, he would just be the sober Irishman who speaks a lot of languages and there would be no business model.

Along with first understanding that not every passion makes a good business and then realizing that businesses and hobbies are often distinct, there’s one more important point: You may just not
want
to combine your hobby with your work. If the hobby or passion serves as an important stress reliever from your day job or other commitments, are you sure you want to assume full-time responsibility for your hobby? Some people find that it’s better to keep their passion separate from their work.

Review the Reality Check Checklist below to see if a follow-your-passion business is a good idea for you. Benjamin Franklin, an old-school entrepreneur, put it this way: “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”

When I asked our group of unexpected entrepreneurs about the follow-your-passion model, I frequently heard a nuanced answer. Almost no one said, “Yes! You should always follow your passion wherever it leads.” Similarly, almost no one dismissed the idea out of hand. The nuance comes from the idea that passion
plus
good business sense creates an actual business.

To understand how passion can
sometimes
translate into a profitable business, look at the chart on
this page
. In addition to passion, you must develop a skill that provides a solution to a problem. Only when passion merges with a skill that other people value can you truly follow your passion to the bank.

Another way to think about it is

Although it is important, passion is just one part of the equation. If Gary’s skill at booking award tickets suddenly disappeared, it wouldn’t matter how passionate he is about travel. No matter how passionate Megan is about her dresses, if a willing marketplace didn’t exist that is eager to buy them, she couldn’t be in business.

The next step is to transfer your passion into a business model. Everyone we’ve met thus far has used a slightly different business model to monetize his or her project, so let’s look at how each of these four examples cashed in.

Each model has specific strengths and disadvantages. Gary makes $250 at a time … but then has to “earn” the fee by arranging someone’s travel. Benny sells his guide for just $29 … but the process is automated and he doesn’t have to do anything after the money comes in.

Megan sells a variety of products (and also owns the co-working space), so her income is diversified … but the main project of making wedding dresses is labor-intensive. Mignon’s sponsors provide reliable, regular income … but she loses a certain amount of control by introducing advertising in her communication to the audience.

Despite the differences, the core goal for each of these approaches is finding the right kind of product or service for the right group of people. Without the right fit, none of the projects would be successful. But when you find the formula, there’s no denying that a business built on the right kind of passion can be highly successful.

In Venice, California, Gabriella Redding built a million-dollar hula-hoop business after losing weight through hooping. Before that she was a tattoo artist and then a restaurant owner. “I’m an artist,” she told
Forbes
magazine. “Artists are serial entrepreneurs because we have to figure out ways to sell our work. It’s either that or you become a starving artist, and I’m not a starving artist.”

Compared with working just to make a living, it’s much easier to
do what you love and get paid for it. You just have to find the right passion, the right audience, and the right business model.