Starting a business in something you love is really the best choice?
I've been reading a lot of people lately always saying that you should start a business in something you love and like doing, while on the surface it seems like good advice, I think it is a really tricky point and can be bad in some situations.
While looking around, I've seen a lot of people fail because of that. For example, recently someone opened a coffee & tobacco shop with hip hop stuff in my neighborhood, looking at the owner you can see he loves it, but the thing is, I live in a neighborhood where most the people are old, the most common stereotype here is old ladies going for the market or to the weekly fair. Well, until now I didn't saw a single person in his shop beside himself.
That's only one example, but now that I'm paying more attention to business I've been seeing this phenomenal a lot: people who open a business focusing too much of what they find cool and not what people around want.
Just some thoughts, what do you guys think of it? I'm trying to distance my self from this, for my next projects I want to focus on what people think and not on my own thoughts.
The golden rule is that if there isn't an audience or product/market fit, you're doomed regardless.
Year friend, that's something we should try to avoid at all costs while building a product. For sure.
You still have to do the other things that make a business succeed, loving it isn't enough. But if you find your product/market fit, build a customer base, create value etc, and on top of all of that you're a passionate and motivated leader...it becomes an edge.
Also it's more enjoyable :)
Lol
Coffee and tobacco and hip hop certainly have a very large customer base... just maybe not so much in the area he’s set up.. :)
Unless you’re in it purely for the money, I think that sticking with your tribe is a key to succeeding for a range of reasons, including enjoyment and motivation to keep going.