Giving Up Like A Pro!
When working on your business idea, how do you know when to give up and try something different?
My rule of thumb is this: launch it, give it ALL you have got for 3 months then ask are the results encouraging me to keep going?
Most people will tell you to stick with it but the truth is, sticking with a dead horse will not make it any less dead. Treat your idea like a romantic relationship: if you are giving it all your love and it's not loving you back, end the relationship and move on!
Don't miss this post: Are you a zombie?
This comment was deleted 4 years ago
PS: I checked out SongBox and I really liked how you explained things in Why I Build SongBox. Knowing the "why" and writing it out explicitly is very useful, thanks for sharing!
No, because 3 months after launch is sufficient time to tell ME personally whether my idea is going to work as is or needs to be changed or perhaps abandoned completely.
Success takes YEARS but it's incremental, with many little victories in the middle that encourage you to keep going.
So for example if you launch then give ALL you have got for 3 months straight and land a few paying customers, that's a little victory that says you should keep going. But if ALL your effort doesn't bear any fruit, you should give up on whatever you were expecting and make adjustments.
As entrepreneurs it's far too easy to fall in love with our ideas and hold on to them even if they are doomed. Setting a "give up" deadline is helpful: it means you won't be holding on to a corpse forever. I set my "give up" deadlines in 3 month blocks - your mileage may vary :-)