Sounds crazy, right?
Starting a business isn’t meant to be about having fun.
It’s meant to be about hard work, late nights and freaking out over your bank balance. Maybe throw in an ulcer or two along the way.
Traditionally, that’s what starting a business has been all about.
I’ve been there myself as part of a few different start-ups over the years. It’s always been about the big dream. And that dream has usually revolved around a huge pot of money.
To get there involves lots of spreadsheets, tons of hard work, numerous sleepless nights and the prospect of catastrophic failure.
Truth be told, that’s pretty much been the story of starting a new business for the last 100 years. Lots of risk and hard work in search of a big, fat reward.
But does it have to be that way?
I don’t think it does. And nor do a lot of other people.
I was listening to a podcast a while back and the interviewer asked his guest why he and his friends had started a new business selling active-wear clothing.
The reply? I don’t remember the exact words. But it went something like this.
“It’s an excuse to get out there and have fun doing what we enjoy most!”
These guys sell their active-wear by shooting videos of themselves outdoors doing extreme stuff on mountain bikes, snowboards, skidoos and so on.
Instead of pouring over spreadsheets, these guys were thinking, “Hmm… we like going outside and doing crazy stuff. What kind of business can we launch that would involve us in doing more of that fun stuff?”
First they looked at the fun things in their lives, and then they built a business around that.
And those guys aren’t alone…
As I thought about it, I realized I’m doing something similar when I work on my website about coffee, CoffeeDetective.com.
I didn’t start writing it thinking, “Hmmm, if I invest X amount of money and Y number of hours, I’ll make Z dollars in income over the first three years.”
I began writing the Coffee Detective site because I love coffee. Today, 10 years later, I feel the same way about both coffee and my website.
I am still writing, taking photos and shooting videos because I’m really interested in coffee.
Does the site make me a nice second income? Yes it does.
Am I blind to the financial aspect of the site when I create new pages? Of course not. Every time I upload a new page, I make sure there are ads and other money-making links on the page.
But the primary driver behind the site is still my passion for coffee.
The money comes BECAUSE I’m passionate about coffee.
For as long as I still feel that way, and still have fun adding new content to the site… then the money will keep flowing.
I love this way of thinking about business.
I love that the starting point of a money-making business can be passion and fun… and not spreadsheets and revenue projections.
Will my Coffee Detective website ever become my primary source of income? I have no idea.
For now it’s enough that I can have fun doing something I’m passionate about… and make a solid second stream of income at the same time.
NOTE: If you have a topic you’re passionate about, and would like to write about, check out my course… How to Write Your Own Money-making Websites.
If you found this post helpful, sign up for my e-newsletter and get a free copy of my 35-page guide…
Writing For The Web #1 — 7 Challenges every Writer and Copywriter faces when writing for the Web.
Sign up and I’ll send you the link for the download, and then you’ll receive my most recent post as part of my e-newsletter every Tuesday morning.
(Your email address will be used only for the purpose of sending you this newsletter, and you’ll be free to unsubscribe at any time.)