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Behind every successful company is an entrepreneur who is deeply committed to their business and is passionate about their products and services. For new entrepreneurs, this passion is easy to sustain in the beginning when everything is new and exciting. There seems to be an endless flow of challenges, change, accomplishments and milestones that keep you going.
Unfortunately, seasoned entrepreneurs know that once this “new business smell” wears off, it can be difficult to stay passionate about the work every single day. As the company grows and entrepreneurs are sucked into the complexities and routine of the business, they often find themselves struggling to maintain the initial passion that fueled their venture.
This doesn’t mean that you have a bad business. This is a natural cycle that every entrepreneur must overcome. Fortunately, there are ways that you can build a business model that centers around keeping that passion alive and well.
Related: 3 Ways to Stay as Passionate About Your Business as When You Started
1. Set clear and ambitious goals
In the early stages of building a business, entrepreneurs go through a whirlwind of quick accomplishments such as landing their first client or reaching profitability. Once the business stabilizes and has consistent operations, it’s easy to fall into the trap of the day-to-day routine.
To keep the passion alive, entrepreneurs should always have clear objectives that they are working towards. It’s important for these goals to be ambitious. If your goals aren’t ambitious, there is a huge chance that you’ll get bored and won’t feel challenged.
2. Create a culture of innovation and improvement
Stagnation is the most common reason why people stop feeling motivated and passionate about their work. As a business owner, you can drive a culture of innovation and consistent improvement. It doesn’t matter how passionate you are about the business, a lack of passion in your team will drag down the organization.
By discovering new products, services or ways of doing things, you can keep yourself and your team engaged in the business. Take the time to listen to your customers and use that as an opportunity to refine your current products or services. Change is a great way to combat monotony and keep your team passionate about the business.
Related: Path to Success: 4 Ways to Reignite Your Passion
3. Delegate thoughtfully
Nothing kills passion faster than an entrepreneur spending three hours trying to find the typo in their accounting records because they wanted to do the bookkeeping themselves instead of hiring a professional. Running a business isn’t always fun, but it can be more enjoyable if you allow yourself and your team to avoid tasks they hate or aren’t good at.
Instead of randomly assigning responsibilities, carefully consider the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on the team. By playing to everyone’s strengths, you can delegate activities in a way that keeps people excited about their work every day.
4. Permit creative outlets
Part of the reason why new entrepreneurs can stay passionate about their venture is because they are doing new and exciting things. Keeping your passion alive may simply require allowing creative outlets, even if they aren’t necessarily business-critical. Give yourself and the team the opportunity to learn new skills and cross-train in different roles. This will help strengthen the business and provide an opportunity to step back from the monotonous day-to-day activities.
Related: 6 Surefire Ways to Stay Constantly Motivated
Sustaining passion over time
Building a culture and business model that is passion-centric is essential. However, despite all of these efforts, it can be challenging to maintain the excitement over many years. Here are some other routines and methods entrepreneurs can leverage to sustain their passion long-term.
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Unplug: Take time to recharge from time to time. You can’t bring your best to your business or team if you are working around the clock for long periods of time.
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Network and connect: Taking the opportunity to collaborate and build relationships with other people in your industry is a great way to stay connected to your business purpose and stimulate innovation.
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Explore a greater purpose: Building a business is a huge accomplishment, but keeping the passion alive may require looking beyond the business to see what you can do to give back to the community through philanthropic endeavors.
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Stay healthy: People who exercise regularly are 13% more productive at work and have higher levels of happiness and satisfaction. No matter how busy you are in the business, take the time to stay in shape and eat healthy.
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Get a mentor: Having someone in your corner who is outside the business is a great way to keep your passion levels in check. A mentor can help guide you through periods of stagnation or challenges in a safe and productive way.
Remember that passion is the reason you started your business in the first place. For this reason, it’s the most important ingredient to keep your company moving forward and getting the most enjoyment out of your work.