I had an email the other day from someone who asked a very interesting question. So do I do what I love, or do I do what I’m good at? She explained that she has started a couple of local ad agencies that were doing well when she left them, but she saw the keys to success there as “selling ads.” And, she added “I’m just sick of selling ads.”
Unfortunately, emails being emails, she didn’t add what she loves into the equation, but she did get me thinking.
Aren’t those the same thing? Aren’t you good at what you love to do, and don’t you love to do what you’re good at?
I’ve always assumed that one of the best ways to build a business is to build it around what you love to do. I know this is weird, but I’ve always liked the way the words and numbers come together in a business plan, and, despite having been a words person first, I’ve always seen the beauty of the numbers, when the balance balances, and the cash projection is accurate. And I liked spreadsheet programming. So those various things explain how I came to start and then build Palo Alto Software. I was doing what I like to do, and I was (if I do say so myself) good at it.
Get ahold of the Wall Street Journal’s D5 interview of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates 
last June and listen to what these epic entrepreneurs have to say about their lives and their businesses. It’s clear there that they loved what they were doing, and for a very long time.
My view is that starting a business is a lot of work, so you need to like what you’re doing. And, let’s not forget, even if you like the main idea of it, it’s still a lot of work that you don’t like. Aside from the core work there’s the administration, dealing with customers, cleaning the shed, emptying the garbage, and all the rest of it.
My email person didn’t say what she did like to do, but even if she didn’t like selling ads, I can’t help wondering if there isn’t another part of the ad business that she does like. And a way to focus on that part instead of the selling that she doesn’t like.
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 8:42 pm and is filed under business ideas, most popular, startup advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.3 Responses to “Do I Focus on My Passion or What I’m Good At?”
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September 2nd, 2007 at 1:02 pm
“Aren’t those the same thing? Aren’t you good at what you love to do, and don’t you love to do what you’re good at?”
No offense, Mr. Berry, but I remember reading this same argument years ago in “What Color Is Your Parachute”, and it didn’t help me back then either. Unfortunately, I have not found this to be true in my own life. I happen to be good at many things, but I wouldn’t say I necessarily love to do them. If it were, perhaps my work life would have been much easier to figure out.
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Thanks Ralph, no offense taken, I’m trying to ask an interesting question more than put up an argument. I admit I do have a point of view, which shows up in the post, but I’m not so sure. I think maybe some of us are lucky, and what we like to do works as a business, but even there, it’s still a lot of work.
I don’t want to over-romanticize either.
Tim
September 4th, 2007 at 10:17 am
I love what I do, and I love being in business. Of course at first you have to do everything from taking out the garbage to creating the overall strategy of the company — but the goal is to be able to hire people to do the stuff they love (and the stuff you hate) like accounting . . .
I think you’ve got to love what you do (and be good at it too!)