Abandoning a Good Idea, Part 2
Americans are brought up to believe that quitters never win, and small business people can be especially tenacious in their commitment to their work. That’s a good thing. The irony is that in fact the more effort you’ve put in already, the more difficult it is to simply ditch whatever the problem is.
Think back on some aspect of your business or livelihood that nearly sucked the life out of you: a software program you chose that wasn’t quite right, a product you developed for an unenthusiastic market, a training system that created more confusion than clarity, or a product line with too low a profit margin. Think how difficult it was to walk away from it (if in fact you did), particularly if you had taken extraordinary measures to make it work.
It’s obvious that you can’t fit a square peg into a round hole, but it’s less obvious that you can’t fit an elliptical peg into a round hole. Sometimes it’s too close to call; or we’re too close and emotionally invested in the situation to call it what it is. Furthermore, a project that hasn’t quite “failed” – there are still some benefits you sincerely like, not the least being another income stream! — can be the hardest to let go.
The danger is becoming too attached to what isn’t working, pouring your best into what may have once been good, but will never be anything more. The danger is hanging on to what is now giving you headaches.
Look at it this way. All of your resources that you use (and by that I mean you, personally) are valuable. Your time, your money, your peace of mind, your management skills, your education, your temperament, your office space, etc. These should all be considered assets to your business. Are you siphoning resources away from the parts of your business that are running smoothly and wasting them on your problem areas?
If you find you’re losing sleep over one troubling area of your small business, it’s a good idea to get a second opinion, keep careful records of the things you suspect are draining your “great stuff,” and follow your intuition. Don’t ever give up the game, but remember it’s not the worst thing in the world to admit when your grief is telling you to drop back and punt.
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The author of chartingdreams.com has written an excellent article. You have made your point and there is not much to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not argue with: Attempting to understand the method to one’s madness will ultimately drive one mad. Thanks for the info.
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