When Do I Throw In The Towel?
- Brainz Magazine
- Aug 2, 2022
- 6 min read
Written by: Belinda Sue Kiser, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
A while back, I was reading a post on Facebook where one entrepreneur was asking about a business support group. When do you know to give up on your business and close it down? You can tell the person was upset. Her business was not meeting expectations and she was unsure of what to do next. She saw only one option and for her, the fear of closing her doors seemed to be all she had.
Her question was a good one. But do you ever know when it is a suitable time to close a business? Do you wait until after you lose everything? Or on the edge of bankruptcy? Is there a point where you know there is no recovery? No one likes to dump their life into a failing business, and no one wants to feel like a failure. But is there any clear indication of when to admit defeat?
Every new business always starts out doing well and then after a short while begins to falter. They face struggles either with sales, lack of traffic or the business reaches a point where it just stops growing. Is this a sign it is time to close the doors?
Everything in life, whether it is personal or professional, will have stages of change, growth, and evolution. If you are having struggles, this is a clear indication something needs to change but is closing the doors to your dream the only answer?
Life is all about hardships, whether it is personal or professional. How you get through them is 100% your attitude toward what you are facing.
If you believe you have only one choice and that is to shut your doors, then this will be your answer. But If you change this perspective toward creative ways to adapt to what is a need for obvious change, you can change any outcome. You have the power to be successful. How this looks may be different than what you set off to do. But how many times have the best things that come into our lives not been expected anyway?
There is a saying…
“If you always do what you have always done. You will get what you always got.”
Struggles in anything are a clear message something is not working. So instead of giving up, you find ways to adapt to what is currently happening for options that can change the outcome of your situation. We need to remember that success can come from the strangest paths and has many faces.
“In most cases, people are just ONE STEP away from success.”
“The sad truth is that whenever we pursue success in some area of our lives, we often do 99% of all things right, but we get tripped up on 1% and never achieve the results we want. “
Learn to adapt, find creative options for change, go with the flow and be willing to shake things up a bit. That can be your one step away from success.
Owning or running your own business can be a struggle and in the initial stages, most businesses will fail only because they refuse to adapt to change. When you open a new business from an idea, you want it to grow. But like raising children, you have to be able to adapt and evolve with the changes that a child will go through. This is no different with your business. Again, if something is not working, that is an indication you need to change something you are doing. Here is where your power comes from.
I am sure there are times when nothing you can do will change the fact your business cannot make it. One being physical. You cannot run the business any longer. ‘Health Problems’ for example. Suppose you do not have someone to take your role. Closing your doors will have to happen if you cannot figure out a way to have your business working without you.
Honestly, for me, this is the only reason to give up on a dream. When you physically cannot do it, or your heart is not in any longer. Otherwise, the options are pretty much limitless as to what you can or are willing to do to keep your business afloat.
Back during the pandemic 2020, the shutdown and quarantine of major towns put extreme hurt on small businesses. Especially eateries that depended on traffic for their revenue. So, when people were forced to stay at home, many of these places shut their doors permanently. Many had been family businesses with decades of success. Now face the biggest challenge of their career. The long-term quarantine stops everyone, and without traffic, how do small businesses that depend on traffic survive?
Even sadder, there were thousands of new small businesses that did not get off the ground running before the pandemic knocked them down permanently. Is there recovery after such an event? For many small businesses, there was if they were willing to make adaptations to their businesses.
The media was filled with stories of people losing their livelihoods. Then I saw where one small eatery in a large city turned things around for itself. Since they could not serve the public within their walls, they adapted and did their business into a delivery food service. Delivering meals to people’s homes. That one little adaptation to their business persona kept their doors open and business afloat when everyone else choose to close their doors. A business owner has all the power to make whatever changes they need.
If you are at a crossroads with your business, take a step back and look at possible avenues where you can change certain aspects of your business. These very steps can breathe new life into your business. If that does not work or stops working for you, then try a different approach. Get other people's thoughts on how you can change things. Brainstorming with others always brings in fresh perspectives and insights that you may not see.
Being willing to see and adapt to events that are not working any longer has a limitless number of choices for change. Most times, this is always for the betterment of the business the owner rarely sees coming.
When a person decides to be an entrepreneur, this is like giving birth to an unruly child. Like every child is different, every business is unique. Each will have its growth spurts and small successes, its roadblocks, and challenges, and not without its daily struggles. As the parent of both, you must raise your children to be strong and independent on their own. But this takes years of work and is not without mistakes. You learn from them, you grow from your mistakes, and you change accordingly and move forward in whatever way you can. Until the day both can stand on their own, you keep this mind frame in adaptability going.
Never Give Up
Everyone faces challenges
and struggles with everyday life.
Events can change in a second
leaving you screaming for dear life.
Take a deep breath
Step back if you can
It is all about how you react
Nothing makes a better plan.
Accept what you have to do
Move forward with a strong back.
Your strength comes from within.
A strong will I know you do not lack.
Do not dwell on what you cannot change.
But focus on the good
Then hold your ground.
Do not ever say… I could.
Do what you must
You have the power to step up!
To adapt and survive
You just never give up.
Belinda Sue Kiser, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Belinda Kiser has a passion for many things in her life. Her writing and poetry bring great joy. But her most rewarding passion is the non-profit organization she created to save her hometown in Green Spring, WV. With goals to bring new commerce and economic growth to her community, she started the Green Spring Kitchen and Thrift. Part of this organization's mission is the advocacy work she does locally to help preserve the future of a local historical landmark that is a lifeline to her hometown. Her motto. Making Green Spring Better-One Step at a Time is the driving force that keeps Belinda striving to make changes that will enhance the local's lives of a dying Railroad community with a 200-year rich history. Her dream to see her community thriving is her main focus.
