When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years.
Nothing is more discouraging to aspiring entrepreneurs than the high failure rate. So why do most startups fail? Many experts have said for a long time that running out of money is not the primary reason. The number one reason seems to be that the founders just walk away. Of course, they may be out of money as well, but that is often more of an “excuse” than a reason.
Here are some common face-saving excuses that I hear from entrepreneurs abandoning their startup, along with some suggested alternatives to the hard stop and exit:
- “I’ve lost my passion. I’m not enjoying this anymore.” This suggests that you've become discouraged with your current business model, possibly because of an unanticipated problem or pivots you made to avoid a competitor or make more money. My suggestion is to morph the current business idea back into one than you can love and enjoy rather than your quitting and accepting an employee role that's not your preference.
- “My idea is just too far ahead of its time.” You probably realize that the leading edge is very near the bleeding edge, where only early adopter customers dare to tread. On the other hand, if you wait for competitors to get there first, you may be left in the dust with no customers. Yet if you already have some early adopters, that's a good indication that real marketing and education will likely bring your product or service mass acceptance. So hang in there and get busy.
- “I can’t find any trustworthy investors these days.” If you can’t bootstrap the venture yourself, find a partner, friend or family member, rather than a professional investor to carry some financial weight. Otherwise, look for advances from distributors, vendors or even future customers. Try bartering services you have for something you need. I’ve seen countless creative solutions to the cash-flow problem by entrepreneurs who don’t quit.
- “The people on my team are not really committed.” We all make people mistakes or set employees' expectations too high. So you made some bad hiring or partner decisions. Now is the time to face up to these issues and reset your expectations or move out the people who don’t fit. The sooner it's done, the happier you all will be.
- “I just don’t have the business skills I need to compete.” Acquiring business skills is not rocket science; they can be learned on the job, as well as supplemented by coaching from an experienced team and advisors. If you knew all the answers, you would be bored and lose interest (see number 1). Half the fun lies in the learning challenge, so don’t quit now.
- “It’s now obvious that there is no market for what I created.” It has never been enough to build a solution and then wait for people with the right problem to find you. There are a wealth of tools available today, relying on social media and marketing, to create or foster the market your company needs. Big markets never spring up fully grown out of the ether.
- “My company grew too fast, and the pressure and costs are killing me.” Perhaps it's time to reset your course to focus on business basics, so you can lighten your load. Or maybe it’s time to scale back and focus more on organic growth. But quitting right as your company is encountering success is foolish. Professional investors would love to help you scale your business
Most people agree that entrepreneurs learn more from their mistakes and pivots than they do from easy successes. Investors tell me that they are wary of funding an entrepreneur who refuses to admit any prior failure. So it’s smart to admit your struggles, rather than let them defeat you or drive you to excuses.
