Don’t Give Up

I have had several readers of this blog write to tell me that their company was struggling and asked for suggestions that could help them out. When I answered their emails, I tried to give objective advice based on the specific circumstances they were in.

But with every email I wrote, I am tempted to add the following 5 truths I’ve learned in my professional career:

1. Don’t give up if your company is teetering between success and failure - This is what every small business owner and entrepreneur faces when building a business. Stay positive and focus on what you want your company to be because you never know what is going to happen tomorrow.
2. Make friends and network with non-competing entrepreneurs and small business owners - I had such a network when I owned my logistics company and these relationships let me know: (1) what I was experiencing was not unique, and (2) that others had persevered and succeeded after going through what my company was struggling with at the time.
3. Be objective about your company's performance - There is proven truth in the power of positive thinking. But you have to be able to realistically and objectively evaluate your company’s performance.
4. Know when to give up - There are some circumstances you can’t overcome and sometimes the best thing to do is move on to something else. I went through this when my company was failing. It wasn’t easy but I was able to objectively ascertain that I couldn’t succeed in the industry I was in.
5. There’s always tomorrow - Having my company fail was the best thing that has happened to me professionally. You learn a lot more through failure than you do success. I really learned how to run a business during the period my company was failing and it also made me a better manager.