“But, he’s so hot.”

We were out to dinner recently with a group of our friends. One of the younger members of the group had wandered to a nearby table.

She was talking to a guy- a guy we could all see.

Finally, she returned to the table. She had a huge smile on her face.

“I just met a guy. He’s so hot,” she announced.

Another friend in the group expressed her concern. “You keep going out with losers,” she said.

“But he’s so hot,” our starry-eyed friend replied.

Not to be deterred, our matronly friend responded, “You can do better than him. You’re selling yourself short.”

First Sight

Many would-be entrepreneurs are like our love-struck friend. They fall in love with every idea at first sight.

You’ve run into these people. They say things like:

“Can you believe that no one has ever thought of this before?”

“This idea will make me rich and famous.”

If you’re like many (if not most) entrepreneurs, ideas come easily. We entrepreneurial types see opportunity everywhere.

While the rest of the world talks about problems, we search for solutions. They come in the form of ideas.

Yet, most ideas are as worthless as a wrong phone number written on a napkin.

Dating

You need to date your ideas for a while. When you’re new to the game, you’ll spend more time than you should with losers. That’s okay – it’s all part of the process.

As your evaluation skills improve, you’ll start working through ideas more quickly. With some, you may know after one date that there is no chemistry.

Just realize that you may tend to romanticize ideas at this point. You won’t be seeing them clearly. You’ll tend to see the good and ignore the bad.

You’re in love! What a wonderful thing.

But, you want to make sure that the blinders come off before you get hitched to an idea.

Marriage

Otherwise, you’ll marry it. And just like with love, marriage in business brings an intimacy where you come to see your idea for what it really is.

It’s so much better to find out before you tie the knot, because divorcing your idea at this stage is costly, both financially and emotionally.

And, there are no pre-nuptial agreements!

Passion Plays

At its essence, entrepreneurship is a process of discovery. It begins with truly discovering yourself – your passions, proficiencies, and preferences – in a way you may have never done before.

But, that’s only the beginning. You must then discover a market opportunity that fits those parameters.

One of the many reasons that we love Carol’s book, The Entrepreneur Equation, is because it helps you through this discovery process step-by-step.

In spite of passion’s current popularity when talking about careers, it is but one part of an ideal opportunity.

When thinking about your own business, you may be better off marrying for money and seeing your passion on the side!

Have you ever suffered from new business lust? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!