Turning passion into profit

Imagine waking up every morning with a sense of purpose and excitement, doing work that doesn’t feel like work at all.

In a world where purpose and profit rarely align, a new breed of innovators is writing the rules. They are transforming their passion into successful careers and redefining what it means to be fulfilled and financially free.

Joseph Loga, founder of Grandpen Africa, explained how he turned his passion for writing into a profitable career.

He said: “I turned my passion for writing into a profitable career by being a ghostwriter for many authors here in Malawi.”

“As an entrepreneur, I established a content writing company known as Grandpen Africa. In the past 10 years, we have never had any ghost writing institution in Malawi like Grandpen Africa. So, with the presence of our institution, writers are now able to monetise their writing talent through ghost writing.”

“We have currently helped over 100 customers from different countries, such as USA, UK, Nigeria, South Africa and Ireland with ghostwriting.”

Speaking on challenges faced as a writer, Loga said some clients  need their work more urgently than expected which, he said, compromises quality. He said another challenge is that many ghostwriting clients, especially from Malawi, bargain too much without knowing effort into the work.

He added that ghost writing causes exhaustion as it needs energy giving food and much concentration, hence; expensive to ensure quality work and meet the market demands.

Meekness Mwakilama is one of the small-scale businesspersons in Mzuzu. She sells used clothes locally called kaunjika.

She shared how she turned her passion into a profitable business.

“I identified a market need among university students and created a product/service that met their needs,” said Mwakilama.

Speaking on what inspired her to take the leap on her passion, she said: “I’ve always been driven by a desire to create something of my own and make a meaningful impact. Inspired by my passion for creating things and sharing it with others, I saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the market. Many students in schools are busy and lack the time to go into town to search for clothes. So I decided to fill that gap and meet their needs.”

She also mentioned that some of the challenges she faced in her business include lack of funding to operate, team building and maintaining consistency.

Mphatso Waluza is a fashion designer based in Area 49 in Lilongwe. She also shared what inspired her to become a fashion designer.

She said: “I can’t really say there was something that inspired me. It was an in-born skill since childhood. After my Malawi School Certificate of Education, I went for a fashion designing course at Don Bosco in Lilongwe and the passion continued.”

Waluza said she mostly uses social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to advertise her designs.

However, she complained about the challenges she faces like late payments and desire by some customers to have their work done quickly.

“So you work tirelessly and have sleepless nights. But when they get their clothing, they would delay the payments and sometimes don’t even pay at all,” said Waluza.

Chimwemwe Phabuli is one of the DJs in Lilongwe. He shared what inspired him to be a DJ. He said: “I think I was like six or seven years old when I realised that I am passionate about music. Then someday, I saw my brother using virtual DJ studio. By then, I didn’t know how it worked or what it was all about.”

On keeping energy levels up and staying focused throughout a long event, he said: “DJs usually have pre-mixed songs that they play when taking short breaks from mixing. During this time, they have to eat or have some drinks to stay focused and retain energy.”

Industry expert Abel Kumwenda shared his perspective on the key elements to consider when turning a passion into profitable business.

He said: “The first thing to do when turning passion into business is to identify and discover what you are most passionate about. For example, providing service goods or products in the industry. The other key is to take action by starting with a small number of members or customers and then gradually expand the business.”