Preface: A passion for the business marketplace in entrepreneurship ultimately creates a golden advantage with navigating an intrinsic vessel from the persistent “heartbeat” to continuously leverage with improved skills and expertise, keep focused, and gain and develop key resources that the competition lacks, or is lethargically skipping.
The “Michael Process” (Segment II)
A Passion for the Marketplace
Talk with any entrepreneur who has built a business working banker hours, or without adhering to the “Michael Process”– they’re few and far between.
You need to ultimately be passionate about your business marketplace to truly succeed in entrepreneurship with the necessary purposeful ambition and tireless motivation required to persistently invest the necessary hours and effort. This is the effort to initially keep the bills paid, be resilient with business challenges, and then ambitiously and eventually soar through business ceilings. You need a “heartbeat” to play entrepreneurial Monopoly successfully.
A great example of marketplace passion in business is the history of Milton Hershey — fired from an apprenticeship, continued on to incorporate three candy business startups that all unfortunately became defunct; then persisted passionately onto “sweet” success with the Lancaster Carmel Company. After earning enough to retire with LCC, he sold the venture, and invested the proceeds to incorporate the Hershey Company.
“Throughout all the trials and tribulations, entrepreneurs reward themselves internally by realizing that they’re on a mission for the greater good” – John Rampton.
“For those uninitiated, entrepreneurs are not in it for the money. While there have been some icons who have made more cash than most of us we’ll dream of, think Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, the reality is that most entrepreneurs work an insane amount of hours for little or nothing. Why would they put themselves through this? Because they are driven to either solve a problem or make [it] easier.
Throughout all the trials and tribulations, entrepreneurs reward themselves internally by realizing that they’re on a mission for the greater good. No matter how bad it gets, it’s their passion that motivates them between paydays and during all the times when everyone else tells them to quit”. Excerpt from 5 Personality Traits of an Entrepreneur, contributed from columnist John Rampton.
How Important Is Passion When Starting A Business – contributed from columnist Ken Sundheim, provides a second perspective on the vibrancy of marketplace passion in entrepreneurship.
“….. I personally don’t know anyone who wakes up every day for their job with a compelling enthusiasm. After all, work is work. Some days are good and passion comes naturally. Others are tiring. Moreover, use of the word gives people who are not experienced in their career or who are down on their luck the thought that because they don’t love every day, their chances are zero. You can be passionate about painting, but if you don’t have the resiliency, curiosity, appreciation for what skill and opportunities you have and ability to control your inner monologue, that passion quickly turns into frustration.
Therefore, being “passionate” and successful are mutually exclusive. Passion alone doesn’t put food on the table.
Where you direct passion is more important. For instance, if you are passionate about improving your skills, and about acquiring the emotional reasoning to keep your chin up during the downs, then you have a shot at loving your job, because winning is fun.
Passion fuels resilience and provides you with the ambition to learn and strive to become more competent at what you do. Most importantly than anything else, it affords you the ability to focus.
In anything, focus allows you to achieve complex tasks. When you can achieve complex tasks, you:
- Become more indispensable as an employee.
- Become more respected around the office.
- Become able to negotiate higher pay for your services.
zShops sound familiar? An online auction site, zShops was one of Jeff Bezos’ early endeavors towards entrepreneurship. A real-time entrepreneurial genius, Mr. Bezos was purposefully passionately about his marketplace; and today we now have the Amazon Marketplace.
“Entrepreneurs who adhere to the “Michael Process” are more likely to own businesses that are less susceptible to market and economic pressures, more respected in the community, and can sell products or services at premium prices in the marketplace”.
A passion for the marketplace with the “Michael Process” revolves around an deep intrinsic interest and motivation ; that keeps you (and your business) inspired at work day after day, month after month, and year after year. When you talk to entrepreneurs who have achieved great entrepreneurial accomplishments, you will discover the importance of a business passion, (the uniqueness of people, and people versus computers) “the heartbeat” they have for what they do. And then, you too, will understand value of the concept in step A of the “Michael Process.”
Entrepreneurs who adhere to the “Michael Process” are more likely to own businesses that are less susceptible to market and economic pressures, more respected in the community, and can sell products or services at premium prices in the marketplace. Why? Because their passion for the marketplace creates a real-time advantage from the persistent “heartbeat” to continuously improve skills and expertise, keep focused, and gain and develop key resources that other competing businesses lack, or are lethargically skipping.