Can skills, experience outweigh passion in business?

By Chioma Obinagwam

There’s the conventional principle that passion should precede skills in business.

Remember the age long rule, “You must have a passion for the business before venturing into it.”

Literatures abound with respect to this rule but could there be another way round?

I think there is. One can actually embark on a business with little or no passion safe for requisite or extensive skills and experience in the business.

Passion can also be achieved while doing it consistently.

There are known evidence on this theory.

For instance, I never used to like blogging or writing but I observed that God was quite gracious to me and endowed me the gift of good writing and interpersonal skills.

Though I struggled to do it because I never had the passion, I realised that whenever I did, it was done well.

Then came the digital revolution- the age of social media, that was never my thing but I suddenly found myself owning an on-line platform. Not because I had the passion for it but because I felt I had substantial experience and the skills to drive it.

But one question kept ringing in my head, “will I be able to sustain this without ‘passion'”?

Nevertheless, the voice of ‘excellence’ kept echoing in my spirit; the resolve not give in to failure kept me focused on the goal of achieving success.

But one thing was sure, the determination to succeed.

Then, gradually these principles evolved into ‘Passion’.

Suddenly, the zeal to want to write, probe and engage my audience not only on traditional media but mostly on social media came.

Yes, I think ‘Passion’ has finally arrived at my destination.

Indeed, Skills and Experience can truly precede and outweigh ‘Passion’ in a start-up although they are all necessities that should be met.

Just as it is commonly believed that you can pick-up the skills and experience while running the business, you can also develop passion for a business over time.

As I engage my audience, attend to ad placements from customers (mostly corporates), and review the quality of growing followers on my social media handles, I cannot but thank God for the courage to venture into the media business even when I had little or no passion for it.

I suppose the above evidence has debunked the conventional notion, which states that ‘Passion’ must come first in business, particularly a start-up.

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