When to Quit Your Business—and When to Keep Going

Hello and welcome back to the UCAM podcast.

This is a show that's all about helping you turn your expertise into income and create a business and life that works for you.

I'm Sarah Jolly Jarvis and today we're going to be talking about something that a lot of people come to me and talk through with me, but few are saying it out loud, few say it in the public domain.

It's Denner Jones's announcement after the time.

And that is around, is it time to give up on your business is it time to give up on your business dream is it time to say you know what I quit I walk away I'm going to do something different or I'm going to absolutely change what I am doing I'm not going to stick with my current approach and my current business model now before we dive into this episode I want you to know that this one might it might hit close to home but I promise this isn't going to be a doom and gloom episode it's about getting clarity because sometimes what feels like a need to give up is actually just a sign you need to tweak things things aren't working as they are there is no no need to you know explode press the I'm done button and give up on everything and destroy everything that you've built okay so let's talk about that difference

so you know to start with guys let's be honest there are so many reasons that might make you feel like you want to throw in the tile okay you're tired you're not making the money you hoped for your latest launch flopped your family and friends don't understand and they're not supporting you you feel like you're constantly on but on it doing stuff in the business but you're getting nowhere you're kind of like feel like that but kind of busy fool okay if you've ever cried into a laptop or googled jobs near me at 2 a.m in the morning you are not alone we have all been there we've all thought you know what am i doing every single business owner i know has had a moment or a number of moments like that where they've wondered would it be easy to just walk away you know is this too much have i taken on too much can i do this but here's the truth most of those feelings they are temporary yeah they don't last

It's one of those things that you tend to have a real challenge and a real downtime and then you have a massive breakthrough.

It is genuinely such a roller coaster and that's all part of that entrepreneurial roller coaster and those challenges those times when you think gosh I really don't think I can do this they can be fixed So let's talk about those times where it's not about quitting that wouldn't be the solution It's actually an opportunity to reassess Okay, it's those I want to give up moments and why they might not actually mean that it's time to walk away okay you're not making any money now that is a really common one i hear that all the time people come to me because i can help you with lead generation and converting those leads into paying customers so you know especially for the first year or two it's a very you know regular problem that people have and in all honesty there are businesses that I've worked with who have been going 10 plus years who have are still struggling with inconsistent income because they have inconsistent leans leads okay it just means you haven't found your groove yet it might be that your message needs tree tweaking your offer needs tweaking you need to look and and reassess your audience you've gone too broad okay money so problems are solvable as long as you're willing to adjust and as long as time hasn't run out on that and i will come to that in a little bit okay you want to to face money challenges head on you don't want to keep burying your head in the sand and hoping things will change but keep doing the same things and and that would be my kind of key word of warning there is is if you're finding that you're not making enough money then something needs to change plugging along doing the same thing is unlikely to give you a different outcome okay

i know that's vague i know that's a very general thing to say and get help reach out reach out to me reach out to other business mentors okay and get your get that support and and and get that sense check Okay, you're exhausted, you're burnt out.

Okay, burnout, it's not a reason to give up.

Okay, now I'm not talking extreme burnout, can't get out of bed.

I'm talking about when you are exhausted, okay, there's there's you haven't had those boundaries in place, everything's merged together, you are busy from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, okay?

You're maybe doing too much, you're doing too much, you're taking on too much yourself, okay?

Maybe you're not being as strategic as you could be.

Maybe you're not using the resources around you as much as you could, okay?

These are all fixable.

Okay, again, you don't need to give up, you need to rest, you need to restructure.

Okay, it's an it's an indication that it's not sustainable the vast majority of people come to me because their business is not sustainable it's either because it's not sustainable because it's not making enough money or it's not sustainable because it's running them ragged and they know that they can't keep this up in the long term okay you need rest you need to restructure you need to regroup and you potentially need some help okay to see the wood for the trees and to figure out how to move forwards and get those systems and processes and structures in place okay you may feel like no one cares okay you've posted you've shared maybe even launched something and got zero response Crickets, tumbleweed.

Okay, that is deflating, it's demoralizing, but it doesn't mean your business idea is a bad idea.

Okay, often it's fact of visibility, so you know, there hasn't been enough.

The volume is frightening, okay.

The amount of volume needed to get people's attention, particularly online, particularly in this day and age.

Um,

it again, it's very fixable, but you need to

dial in with more messaging, with better messaging,

being in a better place.

So maybe you're not hitting your target audience,

posting where you are, posting at the time that you are, posting the information that you are posting.

So, but it's all very fixable.

It's just understanding, okay, what is it that is misfiring here?

Yeah, it's a misfiring.

It's not a this is a really, really bad idea.

Having worked with so many people who are like, you know what, I've launched this, I've done this, I've done that, and nobody cares, nobody's interested.

There has been

probably

out of, I don't know, tens of people, you're probably looking at like 50 60 people that I've worked with with that exact problem they've come to me I've done this and nobody cares there's probably been less than one percent absolutely less than one percent have actually needed to re-look at at what they're doing um and and the core of what they are offering um yes there might be some tweaks there might be some messaging um but fundamentally um they are they're providing the same thing they're just packaging it looking at it differently messaging it differently putting it out to a different audience in a different way.

So, you know, don't feel like that is a reason to walk away just because no one is interested at this moment in time.

It takes time, okay.

It takes time to build an audience, it takes time to have those people's ear and them interested and ready to to respond, okay.

Oh, and then they talk around like comparison being, you know, the

the thief of joy.

They talk around it, you know, being

such a source of problems and it's because it is okay comparing yourself to others spoiler alert they probably have the same doubts the same rough months the same meltdowns they don't let everyone else

in during those moments they don't share those moments what you see online what you see of somebody else's life what they choose to tell you is curated okay are you going out there and telling people right now that you you think you might have enough and that you've you're done i i very much doubt it okay so you're not behind you are on your own path yeah you are on your own path now that doesn't mean that you're going to stick behind that person that always going to be that step ahead of you it just means that you are going through your own journey okay if you're going through a rough patch then you know maybe it is just that a rough patch that doesn't mean it's time to quit it might just be time to regroup get support okay look at your options and and reassess what it is that you should be doing and where you should be going with it okay i would strongly strongly advise you to get support from somebody who has been there done that okay that might be somebody that you know in business who you can talk to you might not be in a position where you're like yeah great sarah thanks for the whole suggestion of a mentor right i will do a 15-minute conversation with anybody okay i will try and help and guide you in the right direction okay

because i want to help as many people as possible to develop in their business and to have successful businesses.

So, and I'm not alone with that.

You know, decent people they will get on the phone with you, they will get on a call with you, they will chat to you and share with you their thoughts on your situation.

But the end of the day, it is your business and it is your choice.

But there is lots of people out there who can guide you.

But find somebody that you know whose opinion you value and talk to them.

The more opinions you tend to get, so if you get a little snippet from Auntie Jane, and then another one from you know, your next-door neighbor, then another one from a business owner of a friend of a friend, then you start to get comp, you know, it starts to get diluted, it starts to get confusing.

Find somebody that you really trust speak to them and find out what they think okay

now that kind of leads me on to why you might want to walk away okay there are only two real reasons to walk away and actually

neither of them mean you have to give up on having a business it may just be a case of reshuffling your current business and getting it to look different or it may just be a pressing the pause button okay so

the two reasons are you are facing immediate financial hardship.

Okay, that what I mean by that is if you got keep that business going, it means you can't pay the rent, you can't put food on the table, support your family.

You need to pause.

This doesn't mean you failed, doesn't mean your dream is over, it's dead in the water.

It means that you need to make a smart decision to stabilize your lifestyle, okay, before you start to rebuild.

Some of the biggest problems that I've seen in a business have come from people trying to draw money out of a business which isn't in a position to support that yet.

Okay, that's looking at your business like a host, like a source of resources.

It's like pulling things from that resource.

It's like picking strawberries off a strawberry plant before they are ready.

You're going to run out of strawberries if you're not then giving it a rest, allowing them to mature.

You can get a job and still be an entrepreneur.

You're not failing.

Many successful business owners had to press pause and come back stronger later.

That doesn't make you a quitter.

That makes you responsible.

It makes you resilient.

And actually, it puts your business in a much better position.

i really enjoyed working with people who are currently working a job and setting up their business on the side the people who are setting up their business pure 100 all in i get why you do it and for some people they need that sense of fear and that pressure but from my point of view it scares me and i know straight away that they're going to have limited resources to work with because they haven't got the finances available because what they're making what they're bringing into the business what they're making they're having to withdraw to cover their own financial costs and that can really strangle as I've said in a previous podcast your business and your business's growth so for the sake of your business sometimes some people look for funding some people look to self-fund you may need to go and get a job and get money coming in so that you can actually support the growth of your business and make your business better in the longer term the other reason for walking away whether temporarily or altogether is if you genuinely no longer enjoy your business.

I don't mean I'm tired or this is hard.

I mean every task feels like, you know, like you dread it, you hate it.

You're not proud of what you're doing.

You feel out of alignment.

You feel trapped.

If you hate your business and that has become your reality, it is time to take a hard look.

It's time to think, you know what?

Maybe this isn't right for me.

You didn't build this business to feel like a prisoner.

You started it to feel free.

You'd probably look for freedom and flexibility.

And here's something that I wish more people said out loud.

You are allowed to change your mind.

Yeah, you're allowed to grow.

I mean, people get divorced, right?

But we're not allowed to change our thought processes on running our own business because we see that as a failure.

Okay, you are allowed to grow, you're allowed to grow beyond things, you're allowed to mature, you're allowed to better understand things, you're allowed to walk away.

Sometimes success looks like staying, sometimes it looks like closing one door so you can finally open the right one for you.

And that might be back into a job, that might be back into employment, it might be into running a totally different business.

I have helped people do all the things: Walk away, retire,

go into

employment, set up a new business, sell the current business.

So many different options.

None of them were failures.

They were the right move for that individual.

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you are happy and you are enjoying what you do because it takes up too much of your time for you to dislike it.

So if you're standing at that crossroads today, I want to leave you with this thought.

Before you give up, you know, get quiet.

Not with a podcast or a to-do list or someone else's Instagram feed or scrolling or looking at Facebook.

You know, honestly, take some time out.

I'd encourage you to walk.

Most of my clients do.

I'm going to go off for a walk.

And ask yourself, do I want to keep going or am I just tired or am I truly done?

Okay.

If you had unlimited money, would you still be doing this work?

If your answer is yes, but I'm stuck, then get help.

Don't quit in isolation.

Okay, talk to a mentor, talk to a peer.

Sometimes a single conversation can reignite that spark.

It can get your head going just saying it out loud.

I don't know why, but it can make such a difference.

But if the answer is a solid no, if this business is draining your soul, if you are no longer happy, if it's jeopardizing your life, it is okay to walk away.

Yeah, your identity is not your business.

Your worth is not tied to lasting this out and and achieving all the things within a business.

It is your choice.

You are not failing.

You are evolving yeah and that's the important thing one of the worst things you can do is keep slogging away not because you want to but because you feel you have to

so that's it today guys i hope this episode has helped you feel seen whether you're in that storm right now or you just need a reminder that it's okay not always to push through okay if this resonated i'd love it if you hit that follow button and left a quick review okay it helps more people find this podcast and they can feel a a little less alone in their journey.

Hey, if you know someone who's struggling with their business dreams right now, send them this way.

Okay, send them towards this podcast.

Sometimes you just need to hear that we're not broken.

We're just being human.

And that can shed a whole different light on it.

So thanks for being here today.

You can do the hard things.

You are doing the hard things.

You can find your way forwards, whether that's in this business or in the next chapter.

So until next time, guys, bye for now.