Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own.
Passion is an essential ingredient of successful business entrepreneurship. The case of top billionaires like Bill Gates, who has been extremely passionate about technology and programming since his youth, are often cited as examples to follow for new and aspiring people in business.
However, for up-and-coming e-commerce entrepreneur Gav Kwok, this mentality can be a trap, especially for beginners with little success or experience.
“You think about some of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time, like Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett or whoever; they talk about the importance of passion and of course, people listen to their thoughts,” Gav says. “However, it can be misguided to follow them exactly for their word because their information contains all the experience and hindsight of already succeeding. Entrepreneurs, especially beginners, need to find the core truths in such advice before implementing them.”
Although Gav still sees it as an essential part of entrepreneurship, he espouses a different kind of entrepreneurial passion that focuses on results and the path you need to take to get there.
“Most people think, ‘Oh, I have to be passionate about this to do this.’ but that’s not the case. I wasn’t passionate about my e-commerce business when I started, and I only have the passion now because I’ve grown to be good at it. I think something more easily relatable is being passionate about your result. It’s easier to find common ground with things we want, and I’m sure most people want things like achievement or the freedom to do what they want,” he says.
In Gav’s case, this entrepreneurial passion led him to the path of e-commerce and Amazon Wholesale FBA. Now five years into this endeavor, Gav has built a nine-figure business that is on track to break $100 million in revenue in 2022.
Aside from his thoughts on passion, Gav has other advice for those looking into e-commerce and entrepreneurship.
“You have to work hard and smart, which could be hard if you are not naturally passionate about your result. Focusing my passion on the result allowed me to be patient and relentless and find the success I have today.
When not running his nine-figure e-commerce business, Gav Kwok spends his free time on a podcast and a YouTube channel, detailing his e-commerce business model and entrepreneurial journey.
