Rarely will you hear someone say that they feel completely fulfilled by work alone. After all, most people gave up a hobby or something they’re passionate about to take up their current careers.
Finding your passion project is one of the best ways to make your life more fulfilling. It can help break up the monotony of your normal routine while allowing you to do something you love.
But how do you start a passion project?
Unfortunately, passion alone isn’t enough to launch a successful passion project. Before you can take the plunge, there are a few important considerations to make.
- Are you in love with this project?
The term “passion project” in itself connotes fun. This will be a fun, interesting project! Otherwise, it’s not really a passion project. You need to love it so much it’s no longer just something you love but are passionate about. Whether you’re hoping to gain money, connections, meaning, prospects or life’s legacy from your project, ensure it passes the fun test first.
As your project grows, you might come to a point where you feel you’re being pulled at in many directions, especially if you’ve converted it into a business. To get through these times, you’ll rely on more than just fun and love. You’ll need motivation. Reasons. From this, comes the next step.
- Why are you doing this?
Love, passion, and fun aren’t really sustainable when it comes to starting your passion project. If you rely on these alone, you could end up among the many people with abandoned ideas left unutilized.
You’re going to need more. You’re going to need reasons.
Before you start your passion project, you need to ask yourself as many times as you need to the simple yet loaded question of, “why?” While there are many common reasons to start passion projects, what are your personal reasons?
At this point, you need to think about your passion project at a much larger scale. What are you hoping to accomplish with your project?
Make a list of as many reasons as you can. That way, you’ll have all the motivation you require when your passion project starts to suck. The rush, curiosity, and excitement of starting something new are great activators. However, they’re not great sustainers.
- Getting started!
Coming up with an idea for a passion project is just the beginning. Starting the project is where things get hard. Since you are laying the foundation for the project, results are likely very slow or non-existent. This is the trickiest stage. Keeping the discipline required to get your project off the ground is critical.
Now you are at a point where the fun is about to pause. Before you decide to quit and give up, here are a few pointers of what you can do to get past this stage.
- Define your role or title.
This is critical! Define your role. To define your role, you need to think of what you want to do. This doesn’t mean your mission or your vision, rather, the action that you need to know. For example, a writer writes while a blogger blogs.
Picture yourself after all the success, and you need to introduce yourself. What will you say that you are?
Now that you have that title in mind name the defining trait. While you may have many job descriptions as the founder creator and other roles in your passion project, which one defines the label you just thought of? This should be quite easy.
Once you’ve established what you should be doing, do it. Everything else is tertiary. Do the thing, the crucial part of what makes you fit into that description. Put in as much effort as you can. What this does is that it brings back the fun. Remember this was the thing that you defined as fun.
- Make a routine of it.
Once you’re here, you’re closing in on the “rest of your life” part of your passion project. While passion projects can be profitable businesses, not every passion project needs to be turned into a business.
To proceed, you need to come up with structures, be it marketing, financial, accountability or feedback structures. Conduct your research on the available structures to help you get the project moving. The great thing about this part is that it runs simultaneously with your primary role in the project.
- Figure out your finances.
More often than not, people rush into projects without considering the financial aspect. You need to draft your expected expenses and resources while grounding your plan with actionable steps. For instance, working from home will save on renting costs.
Does your project require a storefront?
If your business is exclusively online, set aside finances for a logo and a quality website. Look into budgeting tools and financial software and find relevant tips for budgeting.
- Create marketing strategies.
No after what the project is, marketing and advertisement will take you to the next level. Create an online presence. Use social media and Google’s resources to increase your reach.
Having social media pages will help spread awareness of your business. Many of these platforms have analytic tracking too, allowing you to see who engages with your platform and when they do.
Take advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) to put you at the top with keywords and links.
- Build strategic networks.
Outside of the online world, there are various ways to grow your passion project. Look into local companies and small businesses to locate new opportunities. Don’t overlook the power that collaboration and networking hold.
- Focus on growth.
The last step is to keep the zeal going. As you progress, you may find yourself adjusting your goals. It’s okay if your trajectory differs from the original ideas you have.
All you have to remember is to keep it fun, remember why, and keep building to take your passion project to the next level.
Patience and Persistent Are Crucial for Launching a Successful Passion Project
When starting a passion project, have the zeal of a beginner but the professionalism of a seasoned project manager. Be patient and persistent – your passion project won’t become successful overnight.
Got an idea for a project? Contact us for a solution that reflects your specific needs.
