When are you going to give up your Small Business?

I must say, it is a painful question to ask. But a certain point on the first few months of your small business operations, discouragement, sometimes even despair, starts lurking its ugly head and taunt you to give up. Especially, when the sales and income you projected are not being realized; when payments from clients or customers are not coming in on time; when your suppliers starts knocking at your delayed payments; when customers start pouring their complaints; when the inflation rates soared high; when you can’t hardly pay the salaries of your employees from your gross sales; and the lists of your setbacks seem endless –reason dictates that you give-up your business before bankruptcy hit you.

You tried to go back to the drawing board and start reviewing your business plan, reinvent your business processes and strategies, and still nothing seems to work. Will you throw the towel and close shop?

You are losing money more than how you could even count them. Bankruptcy inched little by little its way to your door –is it time to bail out?

I know what is going on in your head. You are probably reasoning, and gut feeling that if you can just hang-on for another month, the tide may turn in your favor, your business will pick up its stride and starts delivering what you have carefully written in your business plan. So, you convinced yourself to continue, and will try a little harder.

I remember Craig Newmark, of the very popular and successful Craig List, replying when asked about the key to his business success:

“We don't have much in the way of a business strategy. Like no business plan. Which I say to torment all my friends who are VCs or MBAs. That's always entertaining. The deal is, it's a mixture of luck and persistence.”

Underscore that word again: persistence. More often, the real key and impetus for business success is persistence. As Thomas Edison puts it wisely:

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

However, a good and prudent small business owner or entrepreneur also knows:

• when to quit and start all over again. Quitting here does not mean giving up entirely on business venturing. When solid facts present themselves to you, and say that it is time to close shop –you do. Then you start all over again. This is a practical approach when you do not want to face bankruptcy and you cut your losses at source.

• how to learn from failures, again, like Thomas Edison who painstakingly invented the light bulb amidst thousands of failed experiments: “If I find 10,000 ways something will not work, I have not failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

So, when are you going to give up your business and close shop?

Here a few practical business notes you might want to consider:

1. Make an objective analysis or audit of your business in its entirety. Ask the assistance of an expert if you must. Because, there is always the tendency that we are so immersed in our business operations that we become blinded to a lot things. A third party professional can help you with an objective assessment of your business’ health.


2. Read and study economic indicators, like inflation rates and forex, in relation to your small business.


3. Look at your competitors’ performance. Are they on the same boat as you are? Or, are they doing something that you do not know? Learn from them.


4. Consider new technology and new way of doing business, yours might be obsolete.

From these, make a sound decision.

Now, when are you going to give up your business and close shop?