How would you like to eat your cake, and then have it? Well that’s what you get when you are paid for doing what you love or otherwise would still get joy doing it for free.
I’ve heard many people working in the 9-5 particularly associates in the banking sector that work for much longer hours, say they envy me for being able to laugh at the end of the day. Work at my own hours (I love working at night) and thoroughly enjoy doing it! Doing what you love is great. But, if you're in business, you want to know that you're making a profit from it.
According to the author Steve Pavlina "Do what you love, but be damned sure it’s profitable."
If you're going to be in business, you need to be sure that there's money in what you're doing. Sure, you don't want to bang your head against a wall by doing something you dislike. But there's no point doing something you love if you can't make a good living from it. That's because most of us really love having food, clothing, shelter, security, self esteem and other important needs.
One may love consulting, but then would not love everything about consulting. There are some projects that you merely like. However, you would LOVE being able to enjoy the freedoms of having a good income- maybe not as steady as some would like. Sometimes it’s high and sometimes it’s just enough to get by another month. You shouldn’t throw yourself into work you hate, but then again you wouldn’t mind making good money for doing things you naturally like. In the end, you’ll love the freedom that work delivers.
I would advise anyone going into the consulting world in any field to begin with focusing on the work they like best. This pays by itself by helping you and your client giving the surprise factor in all you do. Putting in that extra touch, the extra thought, going an extra mile. I once had a job to create a website for a particular client that was keen on faultless writing but was unable to do so himself. Being keen on delivering a good job as well as my interest in designing websites led to my involvement in carrying out a detailed study and research into the field of business he was into. And subsequently writing up the content of the site and designing its layout. The client was amazed- we had two more similar jobs in less than a week!
That’s the power of doing the jobs you truly enjoy. You then require little momentum to deliver first class 5 star service and oust the competition with little or no effort in putting that extra value. A computer analyst that helps you do a system upgrade after a cursory maintenance check is more preferred to one that doesn’t. A consultant that sends you relevant mail updates regarding news in your field is generally appreciated than one that does a one off job and is off to the next.
If you're having a hard time figuring out what you can do for profit, work on doing a personal inventory to help you identify your passions, interests and talents. Talk to friends, colleagues or visit sites on the internet that describes your occupational interests or personal inventory.
Good Luck and have a Happy New Year!
Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He specializes in marketing consulting, business development and conducts personal development and capacity building workshops for entrepreneurs. He’ll like to hear your views on this and more, write to him at ebuha@jeanpaulconsult.com. Or call +234-807-7744-731.
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