This is a powerful video from Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs).
Declining trade school enrollment…fewer handymen, carpenters and more people who know how to build and use their hands.
Take the time to watch it. It’s worth the 20 minutes
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I wish it were easy enough for me to tell you exactly what business to start. On HowtoStartup.com you get a full list of small business ideas anyone can start if they want to.
But that doesn’t mean they’re all the right fit, either.
See, trying to find the “perfect” business is almost impossible. You can be happy (real happy, in fact) when you land the right idea and the drive you need is on autopilot. But you can also get into a business because it matched up with your passions until one day, it loses the original appeal and becomes (gulp) a job.
The thing is, no matter what, running a successful business takes work.
It take drive.
It takes planning.
Customer service. Selling. Buying…
Next thing you know, you’re so busy running your own business the reason you started in the first place is no longer valid.
Maybe it was a hobby and then, after a while it loses all the fun it did before you labeled it “business.”
That doesn’t mean you can’t have passion in what you do. And it doesn’t mean you can’t turn a hobby into a business. What it does mean is sometimes you need to figure out what it is you’re looking for.
You need to put food on the table and, although we all like to think “I’m not in it for the money” the truth is your business will always require “work.” It’s a matter of making sure it’ll be work you enjoy for a long time and not something that wears on you over time…no matter how much money you’re bringing in.
So then…should you go after your lifelong dream of building a business out of your hobby?
Do you take your passion and do something you love…keeping it as small and simple as possible?
Or do you go after a business you can manage, letting other people do the work while you “run the ship?” so you can grow your personal wealth, where you have more freedom to enjoy other passions if life? (Your kids, your spouse, spending time with friends, travel…)
Like anything in life, you not only have to take the good with the bad but you have to find the right balance.
No hobby can ever become a business without the headaches involved in being on your own. On the other hand, no business has to be so dull and boring where you can’t find aspects of it that drive you with passion. (You might enjoy selling and dealing with people, or helping solve problems for people…which opens up dozens and dozens of business ideas that fit the bill.)
If you’re prepared to start a business, you have to figure this one out from the start.
Some entrepreneurs are born to hustle and make money by building something big and fast.
Others are more the hands-on type and doing the actual work in the business is a joy.
Some just get into business to enjoy the freedom and end up finding new passions and let others handle the pieces you don’t want to touch.
If you’re trying to find the right business to start, then take the first step and figure out why you’re doing it and where you can find that balance.
What’ll give you the rush?
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