168- When the passion fades, do you quit or change?
January 11th, 2012[display_podcast]
We’ve all heard the story of the solo-preneur who was so excited at the start of the business that it seemed that the passion would never end. Working 90 hour weeks or 18 hour days was nothing compared to the excitement of “being your own boss” and seeing your entrepreneurial firm and venture grow and succeed.
But what happens when the passion is no longer there? or when it starts to decline? or, as they say, when “the thrill is gone”?
This episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur takes into account the scenarios that many entrepreneurs (especially solo-preneurs) describe at certain milestones of running their businesses when they discover that they are either “burned out” or that the “passion” that once drove them is no longer there.
This episode goes into the questions that each solo-preneur must ask concerning:
- the entrepreneurial venture (e.g., a service offered for a targeted market or audience) and the entrepreneur’s firm (i.e., the individual’s company);
- the product or service at the stage of its life cycle or success with its customer set or audience;
- the business model used by the entrepreneur and its validity at the moment and for the future (i.e., has it exhausted itself for this market or customer set?);
- the health of the entrepreneur (especially when medical problems or burn-out may be symptoms of problems that may interfere with running the business);
- the IMPORTANCE of passion in the criteria for the entrepreneur in the future of pursuing a business by this individual, as compared with the revenue and success of the business that is now successful; and
- the FUTURE of the entrepreneur by re-injecting the THRILL in the life of this individual. This could be by returning to Industry for a job; or it could be by pursuing a direction with non-profit groups or contributing service to the community; or by being a serial entrepreneur and starting a new firm and new ventures.
We have a case-in-point from an individual who left his day-job several years ago and created his own podcasting business with his own network. The podcast episode is over an hour’s length. Yes, it could have been said in 15 minutes, but the style of this individual is repetitive stream-of-consciousness monologue.
However, this individual goes into the state of mind that he shares now that the passion has gone for some of his products, as well as the new directions that he is taking in the future (along with some new objectives).
You can listen to his story and the struggle he went through in realizing that “the thrill is gone” and how he made decisions to go in a new direction by not quitting.
Here is the link to this audio episode:
The end of this audio episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur presents the process that we have followed, the questions we asked ourselves and the results for the new directions to which you may want to take your own business.
Copyright (c) 2012, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
