On the one hand you have those who feel that whatever you create should be your passion. It should spring from within and be something you believe in even if your close friends or family laugh and call you crazy. They say some of the greatest innovations in the world have come from folks who’s products no one loved or thought would work at first glance. I think Gary Vaynerchuk of winelibrary.tv would fall into this camp.

On the other hand you have those who say business isn’t about you, it’s about the customers. Starting businesses around your passion is selfish and shortsighted. The key is to get a pulse on the market, larger culture, the masses and ask what it’s looking for? Then create a product that taps into their felt need. Sure it may not be your favorite thing in the world but at least it will be profitable. I think Michael Gerber author of the E-Myth would fall into this camp.

Of course the paradox of business is that it should be both. Novelist Frederick Buekner wrote that vocation is “where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” If you were forced to choose one over the other I would go with passion every time. Yet, to be wildly financially successful it will take both working in tandem.

Photo Credit: Arenamontanus

While initially this may seem like positive psychology gobbelty-goop I think upon further reflection it’s quite practical because for many of us this day will eventually come. Though it may seem impossibly far away there will be a day when many of us retire, granted we may be 65 years old (or much younger if we’re financially successful) but at some point the day where we have to work for money will end and then what? Most people don’t know what to do with themselves outside of doing a job they hate. Don’t be that person. Answer that question today and start living it part time immediately. Everyone needs something in their life they would do for free.

Photo Credit: abbietabbie.