ENTERPRISE54 – Doing what you love puts you ahead of others. According to Benjamin Disraeli, a 19th century British Prime Minister, “Man is only great when he acts from passion.” Overtime, applying this principle in life and business has proven successful for a lot of people.

In this post I’ll take you through 5 ways passion impacts business to demonstrate its pertinence.

• Passion boosts your business pitch

The passion that burns inside you gives you confidence while pitching your business idea. Because you know the product/service you are offering, its benefits to potential customers and how you intend sell it, you are neither intimidated nor burdened by questions investors might pose. You know everything – maybe not, but you are pretty confident about your business idea – and that helps with pitching.

• Passion gives you the confidence to trust your business instincts

When Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren, decided start a candy business, which was borne out of her love for sweets, many wouldn’t have thought it would be profitable. But because she was driven by a passion she had successfully aligned to a business model she succeeded. As at 2013, Dylan’s Candy Bar was considering opening stores in airports across the US. Passion gives you the confidence to act on instincts and make business decisions because you know what you are selling inside out, you are in control.

• Passion is motivation for business growth

It is rumoured that in the startup days of Facebook, 20hr work days were normal. And what’s the result of that? Today, Facebook stands as the largest social network and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg is a billionaire! The passion and dedication invested in growing the business has yield great fruits. When you are passionate about the product or service you’re offering, innovation never ceases. You are constantly looking for ways to improve, make better, service better, satisfy customers, give back, inform, invest, etc. And as you do this, your business’ influence and interest grows.

• Passion can inspire others at work

Passion also inspires others to work hard…even harder…it’s infectious. For startups, it is important that the founder is passionate about what the company offers. Even if you perceived as inferior or the same with others, passion drives you to prove them otherwise. Cultivating a “Spartan spirit” is also vital at start-up stage. When taking on a larger competition, passion feeds your quest to succeed.

• Passion gives you an edge over competitors

Because you think about passion before profit you will excel in        business, ultimately. The rationale here is that you are driven by a    force more powerful than profit making. In Apple’s early days, it    faced competition from IBM, but Steve Jobs stayed through to his    passion and belief: delivering a computer that is more than a product.   We spent a lot of time and resources on design, and the end result is      what we celebrate now. Today, Apple stands as the most valuable    company in the world. IBM, on the other hand, stopped is computer    manufacturing business.