It is with our passions as it is with fire and water, they are
good servants, but bad masters.
~Aesop
Too often I think we do people a tremendous disservice when
we say that anyone can be an entrepreneur, especially if they have passion. In
my opinion, passion without knowledge can lead to failure so quickly.
When people come to me with questions about starting a
business, the vast majority are looking to open a restaurant. Normally, these
people are very good cooks who have worked in a few restaurants and they really
believe they have the requisite skills to be successful.
Without question, these people have passion and desire – and
even some experience – but I do everything I can to talk them out of starting a
restaurant. I just know the failure rate in this industry is so high. Not only
is a difficult business, but so many people lack the business background they
need to be successful.
Now that I have said this, I know I am going to get a ton of
notes from people saying I have completely lost my mind – which could be true –
but I stand by this advice. Many of these folks believed it when their parents
told them they could accomplish anything they put their mind to. I know I
probably told my kids the same thing to give them confidence to take some
risks. However, in real life, this
untempered optimism is just plain untrue and so dangerous as it encourages
people to take too much risk without the knowledge to go along with it.
I recently met a very neat man who has an incredible passion
for dogs. Ever since graduating from college, his dream was to open a canine
massage business.
He has a business degree, so he understands that part. It is
also clear that he has the passion and the knowledge, as he has had extensive
training in canine massage. I would even say there is a niche for this type of
business as massage therapy is already accepted for horses and is getting some
attention for dogs too. However, what he and so many early-phase entrepreneurs
forget is that there has to be a strong demand for your product.
He is having significant financial struggles. He has not
taken a cent out for a salary and has put increasing amounts of money into the
business over the two years it has been in operation. When I asked him if he
had measured or attempted to quantify his sales, he said no. He had just gone
for it with a very strong desire to make his concept work.
He had really believed the classic line from the movie Field of Dreams and was convinced that
if he built it, they would come. But as I am always telling these folks,
building it and having passion just is not enough to be successful. There is so
much more to it. I try never to tell them not to follow their dreams, rather
that they should only make a go of it after they have acquired the knowledge
and experience they need to give them the best chances of success.
Now go out and make sure that with any new venture, you have
all the skills and knowledge you need to be successful. You cannot just rely on
passion and enthusiasm.
You can do this!
