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I’d rather quit than revise this agreement.
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That was a fun little tremor last night...
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I think it depends on the business model and your runway. Some businesses just take longer than two years to really click, but if all the trends are flat or down, it might be time to tweak the offer, channel, or target rather than making it a binary “quit or stay forever.”
I struggled to stay afloat for the first three years or so. Finally managed to break through around year four and things have been smooth sailing since. If you truly believe in what you're doing, two years is too early to pull the plug. Getting a fledgling business profitable takes time and a lot of hard work. Keep pushing.
Brainstorm and be critical of your business to find what is stopping the growth. I gave my son this same advice when he shut his business down and filed bankruptcy:
The 6-Month 'Audit or Exit' Strategy:
Instead of a vague timeline, set a hard 6-month 'Drop Dead Date.' During this period, stop working in the business and start working on it. If you haven't seen a specific, measurable shift in your Unit Economics (making more per sale than it costs to get the customer) or Retention (customers coming back without being asked) by that date, you aren't 'quitting'—you are graduating.
The Pivot Reality:
Look at the 'Signal in the Noise.' Most successful companies are not what they started as. Slack was a failed video game; the founders 'quit' the game but kept the internal chat tool they built. If there is one tiny part of your business that people actually love, cut everything else and focus only on that.
Inspiration for the 'Trough of Sorrow':
Airbnb: In their second year, the founders were $30,000 in credit card debt and selling novelty cereal boxes just to pay rent. Everyone told them to move on.
Angry Birds: The creators made 51 failed games over eight years before their 52nd attempt became a global phenomenon.
Dyson: It took James Dyson 5,126 failed prototypes and 15 years of being deeply in debt before he found the design that worked.
The Bottom Line:
Persistence is only a virtue if the data shows you are getting closer to a solution. If you've been doing the same thing for two years with no growth, your family is right. If you are willing to radically pivot and change your strategy today, give yourself six months of 'Vibe Coding' your business model. If the needle doesn't move, take your two years of 'tuition' and apply those lessons to your next venture.
My partner and I are on year two with several failed business attempts behind us and its definitely a question I ask myself all the time which is "is this the right time and do we have the right skills to actually make this happen?" The biggest outcome I've seen is our adaptability and skills have dramatically improved over the past two years and figuring out how to get to our potential customers and monetize was the hardest part. We are finally getting some minor traction and interest which is boosting my hopes, but I'd say if you aren't sure, I'd ask myself if you've moved the needle at all in the past two years. Do you have better understanding of your problem or product? Are you in a better position to execute now than when you started? The darkest hour is always right before the dawn but we don't aim to be delusional. We live in a world of instant outcomes which does not happen in a business. You have to learn how to do ten jobs and do them well enough. You have to identify problem, solution them, monetize them, market them, finance them, execute against all of it. I know someone who had ten years of failed/semi-worked business attempts, went and worked a job for three years, met their cofounder and went on to launch a company that is now worth millions. The process is always going to teach you, just be honest with yourself about where you started from, where you are and what you are willing to change about yourself to get to the finish line.
yeah really depends. medical device companies can take years. software companies should be pretty fast. you can literally sell without even a working product tbh
I feel you and been there. After 8 months into the business, I had to close it because the markets are much worse than I anticipated before I started. And I regret why didn't cut my losses sooner.
I'm sorry if this isn't am inspirational story to keep you going, but regarding business we need to be rational. Remember that inspirational stories doesn't mean that it will work the same for you. There are a lot of different variables working together leading to a certain outcome.
Risk taking is part of entrepreneurs' lives, and sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. Most successful entrepreneurs had failed businesses before, because with every fail it comes experince and knowledge attached to it. Never be afraid to fail and learn with every single one.