THE BIG IDEA – When to bail out

You’ve done your homework.  You have read every self-help and success book on the planet.  Everything from Donald Trump, Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca to The Power of Intention.  Every article in Entrepreneur Magazine – every blog -

You are ready with your million dollar idea.

They have taught you how to proceed.  Roughly, it goes like this:

1.  Find your passion

2.  Meditate on it daily

3.  Set your goal

4.  Take action

5.  Don’t let anyone discourage you

6.  Get help where you need it

7.  Be prepared to work hard

8.  Be persistent

9.  Persevere no matter what

10.  Never, never give up

You have done all of the above and have spent a huge amount of time, energy and money on your project.  It is not going anywhere. It is time to have the courage to move on.

So –

11.  Give up

WAITAMINUTE!  WHAT WAS THAT?  AM I READING THIS RIGHT?

GIVE UP?????

It could have been a great idea whose time has not come – or an idea that just wouldn’t fly if you put it on a helicopter.

It is called TRYING TO RACE A THREE LEGGED HORSE.

This does not mean you give up on YOU.  It means it is time to try something else.

Now label yourself as an entrepreneur in training.

Training is the operable word here.  You did not come out of this effort with no benefit.  You have achieved a Ph.D. with the operation you just abandoned.  You learned a lot from the effort.  You have become a successful person in business.  Those are transferrable skills you can use as you develop a new dream.

I owned and operated a very successful, small travel agency for twenty years.  Things were going well.  Our “partners,” the airlines, treated us like Kings and Queens.  I never flew coach the whole time.  Even my kids, who worked part time in the agency, were always upgraded to First Class when they flew anywhere.  They knew the rules.  Wear a suit.  Ask politely if there was “any room up front.”  It always worked.

Things started to change.  Not only were we not upgraded to First Class, travel agents were suddenly stand by passengers.  I remember being bumped off at least four flights on the way from Miami to Chicago.  Took me 12 hours to get home.

Then the airlines started cutting our commissions.  They made deals with our big commercial travelers.  Guaranteed special fares for them.  They denied this but our accounts told us.  They said they loved us but they could not afford to pass up the prices they were offered.

I was racing a “three legged horse.”  This City Hall was too big to buck.  You can’t fight a whole group of major airline carriers who are after your business.

Other agencies hung in there.  I didn’t.  I sold my agency.  I sold it to people who just wanted to have the “fun” of owning a travel agency.  I needed to make money.  They didn’t.  I was probably one of the last agencies that actually sold.  If you notice, there are few neighborhood agencies anymore.  Most just closed.

But, do you know what terrific training it is to run a travel agency?  If you can do it successfully you can run General Motors.  It is all pieces that you put together to make a trip. Air, hotels, transfers, sightseeing, special requests.  And sales.  Public relations.  Copywriting.  Negotiation.  Human resources.  Accounting.

So, what you have attempted has left you with similar abilities that you did not have before.  You can use those talents anywhere no matter what you decide to dream up next.

Knowing when to give up and start something new is not easy.  It is like giving up your new baby but you must have confidence in the fact that your inner guidance will lead you to the next project.  And it will not be so hard for you with all your experience.

As Anne Morrow Lindbergh said, “It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded.”

There is a million dollar idea out there. Keep looking for it.  Don’t give up the intention.  Just the idea you left behind.

Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Picture by Seanberger