How to Balance Passion With Purpose for Long-Term Business Success | Entrepreneur

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I recently secured my first three partnerships for the hairbrush case I created. I was able to secure these partnerships because I operate with passion and purpose. I don’t want to describe my interactions with the organizations that partnered with me as a pitch because it didn’t feel like I was pitching my product; it felt more like a conversation. I started the conversation with my “why” (i.e., my passion), then followed up with my purpose. What was meant to be an elevator pitch turned into a full-on conversation.

Starting my business began with a spark — an idea for a product I couldn’t find in the market. Initially, when I couldn’t find the product, I was frustrated. But then that frustration turned into excitement because now I had an idea that would solve the problem I was having and one that I felt others were having as well. The more I worked at turning this idea into a reality, the more my passion grew, and the more my passion grew, the more my purpose developed.

Although I was new to the world of entrepreneurship, I knew that passion alone would not be enough to sustain a business in the long run. I’ve met a lot of other entrepreneurs over the years, and what I’ve found is that many…