Starting a Business with Both Passion and Realism

Many people starting their own business don’t need to be told that you should have passion for your idea.  That’s why they are starting their business in the first place.  But taking the leap of faith that’s typically necessary to start your own business doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the winds.  Instead, a new business owner should mix some realism in with the passion.

It’s hard enough for a new business to succeed, much less to succeed quickly.  There is a strong likelihood of losing money while getting a business off the ground.  Many businesses are fortunate if they are managing to break even by the end of the first year.

Passion Will Help Get You Through the Hard Times

Passion is imperative to get through the inevitable tough times.  But if and when the tough times persist, passion without realism can give way to despair.  People embracing the concept of positive thinking to the point where they refuse to acknowledge the possibility of setbacks may be unable to deal with those setbacks when they occur.

Some experts suggest mixing negative thinking in with the positive.  Think of the possible things that can go wrong.  Then you will be able to anticipate and plan for them.  There’s a saying, “hope for the best and prepare for the worst” that applies here.

First Entrepreneurial Five Dollars by theritters, on Flickr. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Write a good business plan

Writing a thorough business plan is a great way to combine passion with realism, career coach experts say.  When devising your plan, you will visualize your success at the end while detailing the challenging road you will take to get there.  It’s one thing for you to max out your credit cards as you strive to get your business off the ground.  You have complete faith that your investment will eventually pay off.  But the potential investors you show your plan to won’t have your faith.  You will need fact-based cash-flow analysis to come up with a credible business plan.

Many people who want to start their own businesses see themselves as more the visionary type.  If your eyes glaze over at phrases like “cash-flow analysis,“ you may want to look for a business partner who is more interested in the nuts-and-bolts side of a business.

If you don’t want to have a partner (or even if you do), it can be very helpful to have a mentor or some other sort of advisor – someone with the background and experience in your field of business who may have started out with the same passion you have now, but succeeded by adding a healthy dose of realism.

Ben Hargrove writes on executive, career and life coaching topics for sites like MeredithHaberfeld.com.

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