How to Convert Your Passion into Money

 It is possible to turn your passion into profit

In Oprah Winfrey’s words, “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” The truth is that everyone has a passion (or more than one)—even if you don’t yet know what it is. Our purpose here on earth is to discover it. 

Many people don’t believe that you can turn what you love into a viable business enterprise. You can. In fact, the best businesses are built on passion. It just takes some planning, soul searching, and yes, hard work. Here are five steps that will help you turn your passion into profit.

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

1.)   Dream big but start small 

Trying to turn passion into profit is inherently risky. The good news is that you can minimize the risks by starting small and planning carefully. 

In my interview with entrepreneur Melissa Blue, cofounder of Meli’s Monster Cookies, she shared that one of the best pieces of advice she got when starting her business was “to start small and make your mistakes small."

In the early days of launching a company, you're still in the learning stages. Test the waters first and make sure whatever you do is scalable. Then, as you start seeing success, invest in rolling your products and services out in a more significant way. 

2.)   Keep your day job

The best way to eventually turn passion into profit is to start your business while you still have the safety and security of your day job. 

Ideally, you won’t leave your full-time position until your passion project is providing you with a sustainable, growing cash flow that is equal to at least 75% of your current salary. Most entrepreneurs have a healthy appetite for risk, but you shouldn’t jump into anything without having a decent chance of success. 

You’ll also want to have at least six months to a year’s worth of savings in the event your business doesn’t grow as quickly as expected.

3.)   Break down your big goal into manageable chunks

When turning passion into profit, keep goals small and attainable. Break down your overarching goal into small, actionable chunks. 

Think about items that you can set out and achieve immediately. As

Senia Maymin, Ph.D., co-author of Profit from the Positive, recommends, "If you want to accomplish something, break it down into smaller steps, and go after them incrementally". 

In Profit from the Positive, we…encourage readers to ‘just plan it’ instead of ‘just do it.’ Plan out the smaller steps before jumping into the big project." When planning out your smaller steps, try creating a schedule around it. 

For example, you could commit to working in your home office every morning at 7:30 a.m. As you develop a habit and focus on the process instead of the outcome, you'll be more likely to achieve your goal in a shorter amount of time.

4.)   Focus on your strengths and outsource the rest

The most successful entrepreneurs who turn passion into profit focus on their strengths and find others to help them fill in the gaps. Not only is this an effective business strategy, but studies also show that people who use their strengths at work are:

 Happier

 Healthier

 Less stressed

 More energetic

 More confident

 More engaged, creative and agile

 More satisfied and experience more meaning at work

Ultimately, when we focus on developing our strengths, we grow faster than when trying to improve upon our weaknesses. Are you great at design strategy but hate accounting? Don’t waste time trying to learn the ins and outs of the latest tax laws. Outsource your accounting needs. Other areas to consider outsourcing are:

 Customer service

 Social media activities

 Data entry and verification

 IT services and network support

 Shipping and administrative tasks

 Content writing, research and editing

 Marketing and telemarketing services

5.)   Use time travel to plan for tomorrow

Once you launch your business, take a step back to think about what you’d like your company to look like two years into the future.