All you have to do is take the exit. Wow, it'd be nice if it were that easy...

Finding your dream job takes a lot of effort. Of course, talent and experience are usually required but when you finally find that perfect job opening, there is going to be a lot of competition. As a result, most people take jobs they kind of like. The truth is things don’t have to be this way. At Lemonade Day, we like to focus on the brilliant entrepreneurs that create their own businesses. And a select few have managed to make a living doing jobs only hyperactive five year olds could dream of.

How to Create Your Own Dream Job

We formatted this article in terms of advice rather than just highlighting clever entrepreneurs. Each entry offers a lesson to achieving independence, financial security, and rarified contentment.

Step One: Identify a Niche You Love. The Crazier, The Better

Internet clothing site, everfan.com, isn’t for everyone. But if you’re the right kind of person, it might just be the greatest thing ever. Seriously. They make custom superhero capes in varying sizes and orders. Oh, yeah, and they do eye masks, power bands and more. This isn’t just for kids to pretend to be Batman. Everfan specializes in designing CUSTOM, UNIQUE superhero costumes! Why be Superman when you can be Girl Glorious, master of invisibility? Captain KerPow, cursed with a super punch he can barely control? How about the Arbitrary Aardvark, simultaneously distracting or anonymous depending on the situation?

The company is the brainchild of Scott Chastain, AKA Captain Stretch, a former landscape architect that transformed his love of superheroes into a real business. Everfan offers affordable superhero costumes for parties, Halloween, or general play. With six full time employees, Everfan has transformed from one guy’s crazy business concept into a great job where creating your own superhero identity is part of the hiring process.

LESSON: Identify your passions and think of ways to create a business. If you can, identify something that is currently unfulfilled by people that share your passion.

Step Two: Ignore the Naysayers

If you’re creating an innovative business, there will be no shortage of people that will doubt your idea. Friends, family, random strangers, even your own customers will question the viability of your dream. Just ask any number of now world famous YouTube stars that endured ridicule for their commitment to the new media. Even after experiencing success, YouTuber PewDiePie described his decision to leave school to focus on making videos, “utterly absurd”. He was quick to mention, however, “I was happier selling hot dogs and making my own gaming videos.”

That was in 2011. A mere four years later, PewDiePie, better known as Felix Kjellberg from Sweden, is one of the most popular YouTube stars in the world with over 38 million subscribers. Not impressed yet? In 2014, he made in excess of $7.5 million from advertising, licensing, and endorsements. Kjellberg is notoriously humble about his success noting, “It seems like the whole world cares more about how much money I make than I do myself… I really think that money doesn't make you happy. I am just as happy as I am now as I was five years ago. I am very happy that I don't have to worry about paying rent…”

LESSON: Push ahead with what makes you happy and define your own success. Improve the product and figure out a way to make money from it without alienating your customer base.

Step Three: Don’t Forget What Got You Here

Many of the steps in this article seem superficial. Between each step there are going to be a massive number of business decisions determining your success and failure. Entrepreneurship and financial acumen will only get you so far. During the frustrations and failures, passion for your product and business can be the deciding factor.

Examples of failure are common in many success stories. Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, had his books rejected by 27 editors before finding a publisher. Henry Ford’s first couple of attempts to enter the automobile industry failed. He had to convince a few investors to help him create the Ford Motor Company. James Dyson, creator of the Dyson Vacuum, among other inventions, famously went through more than 5,000 prototypes before perfecting the vacuum.

LESSON: Don’t stop pursuing your goals. Failure happens to even the greatest business tycoons and visionaries.