Drive and Passion, Passion and Drive, either way you say it, these are two of the main qualities that every entrepreneur; regardless of age, or experience must have. That being said, I think we are looking at the correlation between the two incorrectly.  Many have just gone along their journey towards entrepreneurial or even career success thinking drive and passion are the same thing. An entrepreneur without passion is like a vehicle without fuel, you may kick, throw fists, splatter and push but your passion defines what you can possibly achieve. Entrepreneurship is a gift that each and every one of us is born with, it is awakened by the challenges that us or those around us face in life. We all have different challenges that happen to keep us awake at night and give us sleepless nights, indigestion tummy bugs you name it.

One prime example will be of a young man doing a round-about in his locality realizes that there is a shortage of vegetable stalls in his section. The entrepreneurial spirit in him will awaken and tell him that ‘that my friend is an opportunity’. He can do only two things, taking action and seeing that the need is met or sit down on his hands and do nothing about it, possibly hoping for the best. But for the sake of entrepreneurship let’s focus on the first decision. The next step will be for him to do research on how much does he need to see it that his community’s needs of daily vegetable supplies are met, locating the funds to make sure that that is achieved.

However the process doesn’t end there, the daily running of the vegetable stall requires dedication, great zeal and pride; that is where the passion springs in. Thinking of it how many times have you thought of giving up on your ventures when things go awry but the little voice at the back of your head keeps on saying to you, keep going, keep going! And with that in mind you don’t stop but keep going even though the future looks bleak. To truly succeed, it is very imperative that an entrepreneur follows a passion.  It could be towards a cause or a new project, but passion is key. Passion is what keeps you pressing forward into the late hours of the morning or wills you to wake up at 4 a.m. to catch your flight or travel for a meeting. As an entrepreneur, there is no substitute for passion.  Passion is what separates you from the non-entrepreneurs.

As you might know, entrepreneurship comes with challenges, twists and turns. For example today this prospective client tells you that they are definitely going with your product and the following day when you do a follow up call to get the deal in black and white the oke sings a totally different tune. If entrepreneurship wasn’t flowing down your veins one can be dead sure that you would have given up a long time ago.

The challenges are the same everywhere but we are very lucky we were born in a beautiful country with mount less possibilities, opportunities, perks and pipe ways. It has been proven by those who made it before us. I am just putting it out there, what is your passion? What are you doing about it, have you got a plan in place to make sure that your passion translates to results?

Written by Bongani Mtlhavani – Managing Editor of Founders@Work. Follow founders@work on twitter @foundersatwork and @ekasientreprene. Engage with us on Founders@work Facebook Page