て・で and use of verbs that involve volition


I came across this sentence today (from
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puZj7spIvFE&t=213s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puZj7spIvFE&t=213s),
time: 3:25)

コーヒーが好きで始めた仕事ではなく、お客様と接する仕事ということ

I didn't get into the coffee business for coffee, I just wanted to connect
with customers

Why would you use で after コーヒーが好き, if the following verb is 始める, which is
volitional (you start something)?

Or is my understanding of で in this sentence incorrect?




This で is [for denoting a reason](https://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/te-
form-cause-reason.html) and interchangeable with だから.

> コーヒーが好き **で** 始めた仕事ではなく、...  
>  = コーヒーが好きだから始めた仕事ではなく、...
>
> This is not a business I started **because** I liked coffee, but...

始めた is just an action, and does not contain any volition/intention by itself.
You can safely use it as the "second" sentence after て/で for reason.
始めましょう/始めよう/始めてください/始めろ does contain volition/intention. So コーヒーが好きでカフェを始めよう
is ungrammatical, but saying コーヒーが好きでカフェを始めました is perfectly fine.




This で is [for denoting a reason](https://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/te-
form-cause-reason.html) and interchangeable with だから.

> コーヒーが好き **で** 始めた仕事ではなく、...  
>  = コーヒーが好きだから始めた仕事ではなく、...
>
> This is not a business I started **because** I liked coffee, but...

始めた is just an action, and does not contain any volition/intention by itself.
You can safely use it as the "second" sentence after て/で for reason.
始めましょう/始めよう/始めてください/始めろ does contain volition/intention. So コーヒーが好きでカフェを始めよう
is ungrammatical, but saying コーヒーが好きでカフェを始めました is perfectly fine.

