As discussed, to find your business' "Hedgehog" as described in Good to Great by Jim Collins you have to find the intersection of the answers to these three questions.
About what are you deeply passionate?
At what can you be best in the world?
What drives your economic engine?
The First of These is Passion:
The first step in creating your own Great rain-making business is to find what you are deeply passionate about. You cannot become a lasting expert in anything about which you are not deeply passionate. You just will never engage in the level of discipline necessary to get there unless you love what you are doing.
You can become good at things you do not like to do, but being good is the antithesis of being great. One of the most difficult steps to take in life is from good, which is safe and comfortable, to great. The only way to become a true rain-maker is to become GREAT at what you love to do. Become an expert.
Remember, clients hire experts to perform their most important, mission-critical projects. They will seek them out and pay them more. Therefore you have to become an expert to get those projects.
A recreational passion is good, but what you really have to work on is finding what in a business sense you are passionate about. Remember your true passion must overlap with an area where you can become best in the world and that which will drive your economic engine. Finding that intersection, of course, is the difficult part.
Passion is also not based on money. The question is not, "How can I get rich?" You cannot become great if you are not passionate. Your greatness and passion will drive your economic engine. That is where money comes in. One step at a time.
As you do what you do, see what others do and explore on your own, what absolutely turns you on? What would you do if you could only do one thing every day?
Most often these are tasks or functions. Things you like to do. Take all the jobs you like to do. Break them down into tasks and functions. Prioritize them in order based entirely on how much you love the task or function. Identify other tasks or functions you love. Look closely at your recreational tasks, the books you choose, the movies you watch, the discussions you enjoy, the places you like to visit, the types of vacations you choose, etc. What parts of those really light your fire.
Start with a premise. "I am passionate about . . . " List everything you are truly passionate about. Be honest. If you are not passionate about it, leave it off your list. This should be a pretty exclusive list.
Get deep into it. Sometimes finishing this list will lead to an Ah-hah moment and it will be suddenly obvious to you. Sometimes, not so much. Nonetheless, this is the beginning of the process.
The next step is to answer the other questions. Explore and seek out opportunities where you can do things you love. Find areas where you can become best in the world and begin to do the things required to get there. Look at how you can make money doing what you love. Over time you will be able to put meat on the bones of this skeleton. Define it more and find a path that will make you Great.
This is your future. Find your real passion. You have to become and "expert" at something to drive your economic engine in the professional services arena and you will never be best in the world at anything you are not passionate about.
Good luck.
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