This article is flawed. The author sees the right problem but draws the wrong conclusions.
I agree that great passions rarely make great businesses. Doing what you love is absolutely not a guaranteed path to profit. But I feel the answer offered is to work hard and the passion will follow with the success. Except it doesn't. Not always. There are some things you can have complete mastery of and still not enjoy. (The best contract negotiator I've ever met in my life came to me for personal advice. He hates negotiating. But he's mastered it, so everyone asks him to do it.)
To make sure you'll enjoy your work, don't focus on the end product at all--focus on exactly what you'll be doing in the day to day to create it. For example, you may love food, but a catering business is much more about customer service, management, and logistics. Do you love that? Do you love making the trains run on time? Then you'll enjoy a successful catering business--even if you don't love food.
Meanwhile, if you love building products, but pick something that requires a bunch of contract negotiations with a ton of suppliers, you'll likely not enjoy your work, even when it results in a successful product. Maybe the reason you love building things is because you feel control over the process. Perhaps it's better to pick something you can create in a very hands on environment with a small team.
I agree that great passions rarely make great businesses. Doing what you love is absolutely not a guaranteed path to profit. But I feel the answer offered is to work hard and the passion will follow with the success. Except it doesn't. Not always. There are some things you can have complete mastery of and still not enjoy. (The best contract negotiator I've ever met in my life came to me for personal advice. He hates negotiating. But he's mastered it, so everyone asks him to do it.)
To make sure you'll enjoy your work, don't focus on the end product at all--focus on exactly what you'll be doing in the day to day to create it. For example, you may love food, but a catering business is much more about customer service, management, and logistics. Do you love that? Do you love making the trains run on time? Then you'll enjoy a successful catering business--even if you don't love food.
Meanwhile, if you love building products, but pick something that requires a bunch of contract negotiations with a ton of suppliers, you'll likely not enjoy your work, even when it results in a successful product. Maybe the reason you love building things is because you feel control over the process. Perhaps it's better to pick something you can create in a very hands on environment with a small team.