PASSION: FRIEND OR FOE FOR ENTREPRENEURS?

The startup world has long debated who and what makes a successful entrepreneur. Opinions vary widely on the qualities that are needed to help aspiring entrepreneurs spin startup gold out of straw and create a positive mass impact.

There is no single combination of traits that guarantees business success—nor is one characteristic superior to all others. However, one attribute that has differentiated the success stories from the rest, is passion. All revolutionary innovators, business magnates, and trailblazing entrepreneurs agree that a successful entrepreneur follows their passion for an idea and not the paycheck.?

But is enthusiasm and fervor enough to determine success?

Here’s what I think.

The 3Ps of entrepreneurialism

Starting a business is a tough gig, especially in today’s ruthless market where there’s always someone who can do what you do, only a bit better. Building a successful startup means going all in for the long game, where passion, patience, and persistence are the key ingredients needed for entrepreneurial success.

Entrepreneurs are in the dirt, day in and day out, where the relentlessly long hours can take a toll on even the best of us. You have to interact with different types of people, build the right team and culture, face challenges head-on, chase investors for funding, and gain and retain the right customers. Then you have to wake up and do it all over again!

On the tough days, passion sustains the fire that started it all and keeps you going. If you don’t love what you do with all you have, you will not be able to weather the hard-hitting lows that come hand in hand with the thrilling highs along the road to startup success.

When the going gets tough, the passionately committed get going. You have to be prepared to give your blood, sweat, and tears to your cause so that you can emerge as a successful startup.

Passion fuels success

Being passionate about your venture does more than just keep you going when chances of success seem bleak. When you make your passion your purpose, you get clarity on your vision, mission, and core values. Passion also helps you commit—so that you know exactly what you want and how you are going to get it. And when you have that clarity, you communicate it effectively to others as well. This helps you to attract the right people—partners, employees, customers, or investors—towards your business.

Passion also drives innovation. When you know what you are fighting for, you are better able to look at the bigger picture, factor in shifting market dynamics, and innovate solutions for success. In doing so, you also develop the rare but key ability to be flexible. You are not attached to your products but rather to the cause you are passionate about serving. So, when unforeseen circumstances (like the Covid-19 pandemic) send everybody into a tailspin, you pivot and adapt.

But can too much of a good thing become a bad thing?

Too much raw passion can be blinding and can lead your startup towards its demise. It can cause you to myopically focus on your end goal and not enough on how you will get there. It can make you impatient. The journey to a successful startup requires cautious, strategic steps. Too much passion can also lead to overconfidence where you start taking shortcuts that make you ignore the warning signs along the way.

Hot-headedness and ego also go hand in hand with passion. Some of the most passionate entrepreneurs can also be impulsive and impetuous. They often neglect their responsibilities as leaders and fail to do what’s best for everybody. This is unsustainable in the long term and will sooner or later translate into failure.

Balance passion with reason and wisdom

The key to success as an entrepreneur is to be passionate but also exercise caution and lead with reason.?Rationally evaluate your decisions. Stay focused on your vision but also keep an eye on what’s happening (and what’s needed) at the moment. Let your passion rally people together for your cause but let judicious reason and wisdom guide them forward.

This approach to building a startup is more common in older entrepreneurs who are armed with years of experience than younger ones who are new to the corporate world.

The result? The average age of a successful startup founder is 45 years (HBR ). The numbers don’t lie. Passion is a friend but do not let it get to your head or it will easily turn into a foe.

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