I started a business and have a couple employees. We are profitable, but I don’t know if this is my true passion. I want to follow another passion of mine but don’t know how to exit.

Can you “pivot” to something that you’re more passionate about? Can you explore ways to get bought out? Can you sell to a competitor?

You have a lot of years ahead of you to figure out your “true passion.” Follow this through for 3-5 years and see where it goes.

If nothing else, the experience will be invaluable. Look at it as a place to make all your big mistakes early, if nothing else. 😉

Passion is overrated. Maybe a vacation could help with some of the blahs that are inevitable in a long marathon? Another idea, if you are bogged down in administrivia, what can you delegate?

Promote someone internally to be the manager. Or find someone young and ambitious to be the manager. Then build a new team for what you really want to do.

When I was in this situation I couldn’t find someone qualified enough to hire, so I told the team we were becoming an “incubator” and were going to work on a variety of projects. It worked out for me.

Passion is another bs perpetrated by celebrity entrepreneurs and silicon valley. The majority of business owners do it because there’s opportunity and not because they love it.

Go read the book, The E-Myth Revisited. It might give you some insight on how real business owners run their business. As have been said above, find a manager and make sure he’s competent and implement a system. Then once the systems are in place you can sell it.

Anonymous says:

March 27, 2014 at 12:49 am

Thank you for saying that. Like many, many people in the real world and not stuck in some hall of mirrors, I hope one day to have the problem that what I do is profitable but that I’m not “doing what I love”.

Reply

I’ve run a successful company 5+ years and had the “passion problem” a lot. Since year 1.

What’s helped me is examining the distinctions between “passion” and “purpose”. If your venture doesn’t give you a sense of deeper purpose and meaning in the world — and it’s too late to embed those qualities in what you’re doing — then I’d seriously consider jumping ship now. Opportunities are everywhere. This feeling will eat away at you more and more as time goes on. Companies take way longer than people usually expect (exiting is hard). Founders get trapped/stuck all the time. Life is too short. Seriously.

Another way to look at it – the most talented people will want to work for you if they also feel a sense of purpose and meaning from the business. If they don’t, they’ll choose somewhere else. Long term and big success comes from building a great team.

Another way to look at it – the world has a ton of problems, crises, and suffering. By most measures perhaps you’ve had a very blessed life. You have a gnawing feeling that you’re not living the life you can, but you’re scared of throwing away something that you’ve worked hard for and most people consider “good”. Don’t live your life based on the past or for others’ perceptions. Who cares if many other business owners don’t do it for passion. Stay true to yourself. Throw off the shackles and go for what really gets you excited. You don’t know how many years you’ve got left. None of us do.

If this is a “I’m not sure if mobile apps are my true passion, I’m more passionate about B2B products” type of feeling … then take a vacation.

Re how to exit, +1 on the spin off / incubator / promote manager concepts.

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