Should you follow your passion?
“Follow your passion!” says every Instagram guru who’s never lived a day as a sole proprietor. It sounds like really good advice. But is it?
Well, in my opinion, this mantra, slickly packaged and sold as the golden ticket to entrepreneurial nirvana, is quite possibly the single most destructive piece of advice ever given to someone naive enough to dream of building something from scratch.
It sounds beautiful, like a handcrafted artisanal promise whispered over a 30 dh latte, but in the brutal reality of the marketplace, it’s a recipe for disaster, a fast track to ramen noodles eaten alone at 3 AM while questioning every life choice you’ve ever made.
It’s the kind of feel-good fluff peddled by those who’ve never stared down a looming payroll deadline with tumbleweeds blowing through their bank account, or tried explaining to a supplier why passion alone should grant them a credit extension.
The insidious danger of the "follow your passion" cult lies in its seductive power to completely warp your perception of reality, coating the harsh, unforgiving landscape of business in a thick, sticky layer of idealistic goo. When you're drunk on passion, convinced that your undying love for crafting miniature hats for squirrels is destiny, you become willfully blind to the cold, hard facts that actually determine success or failure.
You stop asking critical questions like, "Does anyone actually want squirrel hats?" or "Is there a market large enough to sustain this beyond my eccentric aunt?" Instead, you fall head over heels in love with your idea, your creation, your precious little passion project, completely ignoring the fundamental truth that business isn't about your feelings; it's about solving a painful, urgent problem for a customer who is willing and able to pay you for the solution.
Passion becomes an echo chamber, reinforcing your biases and shielding you from the vital, often brutal, feedback the market is trying desperately to give you. You’ll find yourself justifying catastrophic cash flow issues because you "believe in the mission," or pouring your life savings into marketing campaigns for a product nobody understands, let alone needs, all because your heart flutters when you think about it.
This emotional attachment turns basic business metrics into personal attacks and objective market analysis into soul-crushing criticism, making rational decision-making virtually impossible.
Let's talk brass tacks, because passion, no matter how fiery or pure, holds absolutely zero value as legal tender. Your landlord doesn't accept rent payments in "heartfelt dedication". Your employees won't trade their mortgages for shares in your "unwavering belief".
While you're busy feeling fulfilled and aligning your chakras with your brand identity, the actual machinery of your business – the gritty, unglamorous engine of commerce – is sputtering and dying from a lack of its only essential fuel: cash. Revenue might be vanity, profit might be sanity, but cash flow is the oxygen mask you desperately need when the plane is hurtling towards the ground.
Passion as a Guide, Not the Driver
The happiest entrepreneurs I know treat passion like a GPS, not a gas pedal. It’s there to point them in a direction, not to power the whole trip. You still need fuel, strategy, market research, and cold hard cash, to keep the engine running.
Here’s a fictional example of Mike, who uses passion the right way. He loved baking, but he knew competition in his area was too intense and margins were too thin. So instead of chaining himself to an oven, he leveraged his marketing background to start a consulting venture helping food startups scale. His passion guided his niche, but he built something practical, scalable, profitable, and way less likely to leave him crying over burnt muffins at midnight. That’s the difference: passion as a compass, not the whole car.
The founders who actually make it are problem-solvers with a healthy dose of passion on the side. They:
● Pick markets that need them (not just markets they love)
● Test their ideas before betting their life savings
It's like dating versus marriage. Passion gets you excited about the first date. But it's compatibility (with the market) and commitment (to solving real problems) that keep the lights on.
Start with market gaps, not personal dreams. If your passion happens to fill a lucrative void, fantastic. If not, maybe keep that artisanal underwater basket weaving as a hobby.
Channel passion into persistence, not delusion. Let it fuel your 16-hour days, not blind you to basic business math. When your passion project's bleeding money, no amount of "believing in yourself" will fix your profit margins.