Passion Is Overrated: Why Boring Businesses Win

Hello, welcome to today's episode of Black Belt Startup with Feras. We had a technical issue early on, so we should be all set right now. What is happening in the world of entrepreneurship today? We're going to talk about a lie that is keeping a lot of smart, competent professionals trapped in corporate jobs they hate. The lie is this, if you don't love it, don't do it. Or another version, follow your passion and money will follow. But here's the truth, passion is optional. Skills and mandatory— skills and sacrifice are mandatory. They're not optional. They're not optional. And I speak with a lot of founders every week. 3 to 4 founders at different phases of their entrepreneurial journey. And I can tell you that a lot are obsessed with their idea. They fall in love with the idea without a whole lot of regard to the market and the needs out there. And this one gentleman I spoke with, he's very technical. He has 20+ years experience in this one domain. He has some patents that he has applied for and received and very passionate about this idea, but has not spent any time speaking with potential buyers. And he sells to businesses in a B2B setup. When we had that session, he showed me, we shared screens and he showed me all these diagrams and all these, um, the complexity of what he's trying to solve for. It sounds great to me, but I asked him a simple question. Have you spoken with potential buyers? Oh no, I'll do that next time. I'll do that next week. I'll do that next month. I'll do that next year. My friend, if you're waiting for a business idea that gives you butterflies every morning, you aren't building a business, you're looking for romance. So you have to test this idea. You have to validate this idea against marketing, market needs, against buyers' pain points. That's what we want to talk about today. And I want to, I want to spend a lot of time on what people might call boring and show you how that— there's a lot of, it's, there's a lot of gold in boring. Boring is bountiful. So we're going to break down why boring businesses, the ones based on unsexy problems but real needs, are actually the safest, fastest boat to freedom for you, a professional, someone who wants to be their own bosses, want to have a company, and they want to build an amazing culture, and they want to have financial independence. So let's do that. And before we step on the mat, a couple of, a couple of administrative items. One is that we have these live streams where we— where I ask the community for questions and then I answer these questions in this live stream, whether it is something that you, um, you're struggling with today, something you're planning on doing and you're not sure what the next steps should be, or even if you have some wins, some Small wins, big wins—it doesn't matter. I'd love to hear from you. So reach out, leave me a comment on whichever whichever platform you're on: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X. We're there. I'm there. So leave me a comment, or if it's something very personal, you're still working at a job, you don't want to broadcast to the world that you are starting your own business, email me at ferasferas at. Startupwithferas.com. I keep all of it confidential and I reply and answer every question I get, so except spam emails, I don't. So, so, uh, join us here on these live streams. Again, you can send me questions ahead of time or you can join us live and, and ask me the questions and I'll give, I'll give it my best to, to give you something, um, something useful, practical, or at least point you in the direction that will help you get where you want to go. All right, so now I remember I read a book by the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman. It was called— it's called The Startup of You. The Startup of You. And this is, this is not just Silicon Valley stuff. It applies to Everywhere, wherever you are, if you're interested in investing in yourself and growth and getting better compensation, getting a better job, getting ahead in life, I think this is a great book. And he said, passion is often a byproduct of mastery and success, not the starting line. So let me say that again. Passion Passion is a byproduct of mastery and success, not the starting line. So this concept here, the concept here is that passion is not found. Passion emerges. So instead of waiting for a lightning bolt of passion or waking up with and having butterflies about your idea, The focus should be on acquiring skills, hard skills, soft skills. I think he called them soft assets, skills and network. And then as you become more competent, as you become more valuable to the market, the passion follows. So I want to deconstruct passion further because When you leave corporate, whether it's something you've been wanting to do for a long time and you've saved up some money and you have a financial runway, and I have a video on the 6-month financial runway, which I recommend you plan for before you take the leap, or in some cases, life throws a curveball at us. We get laid off. The company goes under. I know it. I went through it. I know exactly how awful this feels. So, things happen to us, whether willingly we want to leave corporate or things, a layoff takes place and we're impacted. So, we're looking for a vehicle to take us from point A to point B. And that could be point A, employment or being laid off, to financial independence. And this, this is something that a lot of people struggle with because you might, you might be, you might have a hobby on the side when you are in corporate. You might have a side hustle. I know some people do, and I have a, I have a, I'm very opinionated about, about side hustle. I have a strong opinion on side hustles, and I don't, I don't think they serve your career unless you use them temporarily to either if you need some extra cash right away or they're stepping stone to— for you to figure out what business is like, having your own business is like, and you want to use that opportunity to, to, to get ready to take the full leap. But that's a different video for a different time. You can check out, um, my live stream if you go to my channel @StartupWithFeras, go to the live stream and look for runway, 6-month runway. So I talk about that. But if, if you've been doing If you've had a side hustle on the side, or if you're thinking of one, and let's say it's something that you are passionate about, something you like, it could be helping the elderly, it could be accounting, number crunching, it could be you are great at customer service, it could be project management, it could be IT consulting, but this gentleman I spoke with, he was a very talented musician, He loves music. It's his passion. And he's been, he's been making, making some money providing one-on-one tutoring. So, and one-on-one teaching. So that's great. Now his experience from his day job is in industrial sales in oil and gas. And, and he's great. He's good at it as well. So he wants to pursue these 2 ideas. Teach music and figure out a way to do it at scale, leveraging technology, and also grow in, in, um, and also grow, uh, that B2B sales consulting idea that he had. So my advice to him is a person, the person who chases 2 rabbits will end up with none. So decide if you want to— if you think there's money in that music and that passion that you have, then pursue it. But from what he sound— from what he said, it didn't sound like there's a whole lot of money to be had. So focus on what you have 13 years of experience in, which is B2B sales and consulting. And, and, and, and, and he knows how to sell in different markets, in different regions, international. I mean, that international trade, these are great skills. So this might be boring logistics and setting up businesses in different markets and paperwork. It's long sales cycle, you know, business-to-business contracts, all that stuff. But there's a clear, from what he's done, there's a clear market need that he can address. And he has connections in different regions. I mean, he has everything set up for him. Now, the music, you can keep it as a hobby, or if you truly think you can make a whole lot of money from teaching, from giving music lessons, then that could be— that should be your focus. So it's not just because I'm passionate about something, it is about ensuring there is a need for what I offer. And a lot of times We're not 100% certain that the— how the market will respond to my offer. So you don't have to, you don't have to go, um, commit to it 100%, although that's— I've seen people do it. But you can try it out, you can talk to people, you can speak to the research competitors, go to conferences where your potential buyers are. Understand the market, speak with people who are likely to buy from you, and understand the pain point. What is it that they're not happy with the current providers? And that will help you validate and crystallize the idea and validate that there is a need in the market for it. And, and you might not have done that before, and I know it's difficult for, for founders because a lot of them, around 70% or so, they come into entrepreneurship without any sales or marketing background or education. So they struggle with sales and marketing, and they struggle with speaking with people and pitching and starting conversations. That's what pitching is, starting a conversation to understand what the pain points of the client is and then show them how you can solve those problems. So if you have a passion in one area, I'm not saying you disregard it. Of course, you want to work on something that you enjoy, but if there's no one willing to pay for this, if there are no willing wallets, you're not going to succeed. So make sure passion is a component, but market validation and the needs in the market are there for you to make a living and hopefully get to financial independence. So, so real businesses are built on needs, not feelings. Another example, another story I'll share here is someone I spoke, spoke with recently, and they're like a Google Sheet and Excel whiz. They, they, they go in and make sure these very, very advanced Excel functions are properly used and, and, and is almost like a programming. So, and he focuses on accountants and lawyers. And, and if you think about it, fixing spreadsheets and fixing Excel document sheets, it's not sexy. Is it boring? I don't know. I think so. Like, but he enjoys solving problems. He enjoys bringing a smile to the clients' faces. He enjoys going in with with a client drowning, a client who's drowning in paperwork, and then he throws them a lifeline. That is a bountiful business because it solves a high-stakes pain point. Lawyers and accountants don't have time trying to fix these spreadsheets. If they're coming up, accountants or CFOs coming up with an Excel model for it, for a company, and presenting this to the executives. They want to make sure this model is solid and has validation points and looks beautiful and all that good stuff. So, so it is not about loving number crunching, and most people don't enjoy that, including those in that field, but they love helping others achieve their goals and solve their problems. So, so again, always look at it from the client's perspective, from the person who's struggling with the issue that you're solving. And another book that I've mentioned a few times this year is, um, is by the founder of Waze, Uri Levine. He says, fall in love with the problem, not the solution. So, so in a way We are thinking day and night about, about the solution that we have, the offer that we have, the product that we're developing. But it's our baby, of course. It's the startup. That's what it is. But the focus should be— the falling in love should be focused on the business, not on the pain, on the pain points, the that your clients are having, not on the business idea itself. So, so keep that in mind. Again, fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Because if you're not doing that and you're obsessing about just what you're thinking about and what you're developing— I mean, we, we— first of all, there's this concept of the curse of knowledge, you know. You know so much about what you're developing, what you're building, what you've spent the last six months on. You don't see issues with it, and even when you try to explain it to people, you're speaking like your own language, your own jargon. You're not you're not really connecting. You're not resonating with those who are on the other side. So so focus on the issues, the needs, the wants, the wishes, the the aspirations of your potential buyers and make sure what you're offering, what you're building, what you're developing is addressing those needs, wants, wishes, aspirations. All right, so that's one. Now the second thing I want to talk about here is how, how to find these ideas that are boring but they are bountiful, and, and they will help you establish and grow and build a sustainable business. So use, use what I call your skill inventory. Follow— and I have a sheet, I have a spreadsheet, I'll link it in the description— follow what is, what you have developed terms of your personal experience, in terms of areas of expertise, sectors you've worked in— healthcare, tech, hospitality. Maybe you know a specific market really well, you know the movers and shakers, and you know the buyers and suppliers. So list everything that you have accumulated over the years. There's no, um, there, there might be some, some skills that you need to— sorry, so let's, let's the experience, the expertise. Also what I would call soft skills and hard skills. You're a good communicator, you are a good presenter, you are an active listener. All these, especially if you've been in a relationship for a long time like I have been, you learn how to develop the active— an active listening skill that will, that will help a lot in relationships. Same thing in business. So list the things that you're very good at what I'd call soft skills. Also list hard skills, the technical skills that you have in your area of expertise. So once you have those listed, add one more column. Also your, your network access to potential employees, to potential buyers, to partners— business partners, that is— suppliers, vendors. influencers in your space. All of that is part of your soft assets, I think, as Reid Hoffman called them. So make sure you develop all of that, and that is one side of the equation. The other side of it is also another variable is the market need, which we talked about earlier, understanding what people are looking to solve. So between doing that exercise in terms of assessing your skills, soft skills, hard skills, your network, and then understanding the needs of the market, then you're in a much better position to bridge that gap between what people are looking to solve, between the problems that people have and the solution with your skills. So, so don't look just for a magical idea that, that feels good, but start with this inventory. So as I said, and I have the spreadsheet that you can use it to develop your own, your own, uh, for your own skills and, and use that as a first step, uh, going forward. So, um, you might also add to that, especially with the fast pace of tech technology improvements and with the fast pace of AI, we can't keep track of things. You might identify a gap in skills. So for example, let's say you're in HR, you want to do an HR consulting company. So You understand how to set up systems for hiring, vetting candidates. You understand how to also, once candidates are hired, how to onboard them. So you can set up an onboarding system for your customers. You also know how to set up processes for ensure employees' issues are addressed and how you improve retention. All of these are benefits to companies. So you know all of that really well and you have 5 years, 10 years of experience in that space. Now, in this day and age, there are a ton of AI tools that can support these processes, whether it's vetting the candidates in the interviewing process, whether it is collecting input, whether it is automating some internal processes. So you would identify, if I were you in that space, I would identify what other AI-type tools and AI skills that I could use? Not— I'm not talking about programming, that's a diff— that's a different thing. I'm talking about for services and consulting businesses. You can identify, uh, you can identify a list of the top 3 tools or, or 5 tools that are— that leverage AI to help companies vet and hire the right candidates, right? There are 3 to 5 tools that help improve the effectiveness of onboarding. There are 3 to 5 tools that help companies track and measure the performance of their employees and also set up a performance system. Some of it might be AI-related, some of it might not be AI-related. So take time to learn these tools. A lot of these tools have free demos. You can get a free account. You can ask for a sales demo. So you as an HR consultant, when you're going to companies and you're showing your expertise, you're adding to that that you also— there's the new, new thing that's called AI that is now impacting, that is embedded in everything we do, almost everything we do, and that you have a good handle of using AI to make things more efficient, to help companies do things faster, to help, uh, to, to, to, to, to do things faster than the competition. So that will be— instead of this being a gap on your resume or on your About Us page, make this an advantage for you. That is, you are keeping up with technology, you are keeping up with AI, you are keeping up with what is happening in the market. So that is something that's really, really important is you do your own inventory, you identify the problems that the market has, and then in that you might find that there are a couple of skills that you just don't have and you have to invest time in those, time to learn those skills. So that is on this concept of, on the concept of the finding these boring ideas and doing an inventory of your skills. Now, one thing I want to bring up here from Aikido, from martial arts, is that there's a quote by one of the direct students of the founder of Aikido, Saito Sensei. He says that people think light of basics, people think light Sorry. People think light of basics and are attracted to fancy techniques. Nothing is enjoyable in the beginning, but with this as a basis, it eventually becomes enjoyable. So a lot of times, you know, in Aikido there's a lot of throws, high falls, you know, people want to be seen, you know, you want to kind of throw your attacker and they do a hard flip and hard fall and it It looks awesome, it's also effective in certain situations, but what he's saying is that don't think light of the foundation, of the basic, and some techniques might take you 10,000 reps to master, and as you focus on the basics, and some teachers don't like to call them basics, they call them the foundation, as you focus on these foundational elements, you become— your technique becomes better. You are more aware of the minute details in height and weight and angle and distance, and that focus on the foundation will enable you, although it might be called boring because I'm doing the same technique, the same foundational technique all the time, but enables you to have a very, very strong, that strong foundation will enable you to do these advanced techniques with ease, with flow, and that boring reps will manifest in some advanced ways without you knowing that. So a bit of a tangent here with Aikido, but we talked about the skills inventory and about Identifying the things that that are needed in the market. Now, passion is not absent. If you've been following here, and for those of you who are joining a bit late, let me know if you have any questions. We're talking about boring is bountiful and how passion is optional. Skills and sacrifice are not. Skills and sacrifice are. Are mandatory. We're not covering— I'm not speaking a lot about sacrifice today. That's a topic for a different, different time. But in terms of, in terms of skills and in terms of committing to this idea, even if it's boring, um, that's where potentially your 6-figure or 7-figure business is. So, so now before we wrap up here, I want to spend a little bit of time on, on redefining where passion should exist in your business. And you can think of passion and redefine it in your own mind as the outcome, not the activity. So think about an idea that you love, okay, and you're passionate about, and an idea or something that you really don't enjoy working with, right? So that's, that's the beginning, that's the starting line. But as you start to work through developing your service, your offer, as you start to go out and market your product, your service, as you start to go and to network, as you start to send proposals and learn how to negotiate and learn how to handle objections All of that, those are steps in the process of building and growing a company, and it doesn't matter what you're selling and whether it's an idea you're passionate about or it's an idea that you hate, these steps are the same. So the passion will come from the outcomes, from winning proposals, from solving problems, But you'll be in the grind of marketing and selling and implementing and dealing with unhappy employees and unhappy customers. Like, that is where you'll be spending most of your time, not on this passionate idea that you had. So what I want to emphasize here is that you want to— it's a mindset shift. Passion for getting things done. Passion for the problem, and you love solving those problems and those puzzles and create order out of chaos. Passion for the freedom. You'll love that this business buys you time with your kids. Initially, you might have to sacrifice some of that time. Of course, take care of the kids and, and the spouse at home and the important relationships. Do not— you have to take care of that. But you might have to sacrifice some leisure time. You might have to sacrifice some hobbies, bring down hobbies from 4 to just 1. Stay fit, of course, be active. But the freedom that you are aspiring to have, that will be the passion, working for that, working for that moment in time where everything that you've put into this business will pay off. Also, passion for the service. You love seeing the relief on your client's face. I've seen this myself. You know, we used to sell analytics solutions, marketing analytics solutions. So, so when a, a CMO, chief marketing officer, CMO, or when we have a director of marketing coming to us and they're, they're in a in a very difficult situation. They have data, they're spending money on these marketing campaigns, and they have no idea what's working, what's not. Are people coming to my website or downloading my app? Are they engaging with my content? Are they buying? Is this— all these efforts I'm putting into marketing, is this leading to, to results? Is this campaign and this messaging and this offer Are they doing better than this other campaign and this other messaging and this other offer? People struggle with this, and sometimes their job depended— depend— and their jobs depended on getting answers to these difficult questions. So when we come in as analytics consultants, when we came in and helped this individual get more clarity and visibility into their data It felt great that we helped clients achieve their goals. So think about it, that— excuse me— the passion is not about the idea itself. You want to develop passion as, as the outcome, passion for solving the problem, passion for the freedom that you want to have. and then passion for the service and bringing smiles on your clients' faces. So, so those are, those are really important things we covered earlier. We covered how, uh, passion is, uh, how— sorry about this— we covered that. My goodness, my allergies are acting up big time. Let me just pause for a sec. Okay, sorry about that. We covered a few things. One is that— oh my goodness, sorry about this. Okay, I'm all good now. About the needs of the market versus feelings. You know, we love an idea, but there's no one willing to pay for it. We also— I also covered this concept of falling in love with the problem, not just the solution. The solution that we're developing, we're spending time on, we fall in love with it. Just like it's our baby. Also, we talked about the inventory skill, uh, the, the, the doing an inventory for your skills. And then what I want to wrap up with here is that I want you to leverage tools and templates I have, I have for you ready. You can download what I call the 10+5, where you go and, and, and if you have an idea, before you quit your job, before you start your LLC, before you take money from your savings, um, go and talk to 10 people. That's why it's called the 10+5. 10 people, and then research 5 competitors. And see that people are willing to buy this from you. See that the way this problem is being solved by other providers leaves much to be desired, and that's where you can stand out. If, if you speak with 10 people and 5 of them said, this is how, this is how, this is how much money I'm paying for this problem to be solved, and I'm not happy with any of the providers This is your opportunity, because if the other providers are delivering a service at a high price, or they're taking—sorry—or they're taking a whole lot of time to deliver a service. You can deliver it cheaper, you can deliver it faster. All of those are advantages for you. So, um, when you do that research on your— talk to your clients, that is the 10 clients, and then research 5 competitors, you also understand from the competitors how they're positioning themselves, and you can, you can take advantage of that to, to identify what will make you stand out. So we'll wrap it up today, especially since my allergies are acting up. And if you have any other question about starting a business, growing the business, vetting the idea, if you're not sure if the idea is boring or not, or how to deal with an idea that's boring but, but there's— has a lot of potential, don't forget to check out our channel, our channel at startupaffairs.com on YouTube, or connect with me on LinkedIn, and I'll be more than happy to answer your questions. So See you next time.