Focus on one business? Yes, but for how long?

[BlackLands]

Hello everyone, I am aware that focusing on one business is the best thing and most of the time the results don't come right away. What I'm wondering is how do you figure out if it's worth continuing to work on that business or if it's time to move on to something else? MJ DeMarco failed in various businesses before he became rich, but if he had insisted on one of those maybe now he would be even richer. I hope I have explained myself, good day everyone.

 

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[Knugs]

I think you will know when the time has come to move on. EX Lack of progression, lack of sales, bad ROI, horrible CLTV. When you burn all the money you have or when you keep losing money and dont see any option to leave the hole.

 

[Zealander]

I would agree that the time would be when you do not see progression in a year. For example I am involved in the e learning space (udemy instructor) and the market is there (325 billion by 2025). And during a year I have moved up from 0 profit to making 2000 (throughout the whole year, i know, not much) dollars. So that is good progression during the year for me.

Of course I see a lot of competition and a lot of issues with this market (namely a lot of quite good free courses + people who do it out of passion and give out their content for free). And if I don't make considerable progress in the coming year I would move on to something else. I just feel that during this whole corona craziness it is a good Idea and I am already making money from it.

I would suggest a couple of questions:
1. Have you made any progress in the last few months? If not, why?
2. Are there any opportunities that would REALLY be better? (Not an excuse to drop what you are doing and go to a shiny new idea, but you have to be open to opportunities)

 

[RealDreams]

Honestly, from my experience, there's no precise answer. It's more a thing you understand through trial and error than a straight fact.

I quit my blog despite the fact I was making money and had 100 users a day visiting it, and I did all this in 4-5 months ranking many posts in the first page for determined kw's.

And yet, I decided to quit the blog cause I wasn't making 4-figures, but after 5 months (aka just a few weeks ago) I realized how dumb that choice to quit was. Who makes 4-figures in the first year by writing a blog? Probably nobody, unless you are boosting your blog with paid ads and influencers. And yet I had this high, unrealistic standard that made me quit. Who knows where I'd been if I kept going for at least 2 years.

I'm now working on a YT channel (and I know it's laughable to consider it a "business) and I decided not to quit at the first sign of defeat.
There's so much you can learn by working on a business and keep failing on it. Try different approaches, but on the same business. Of course, if you run out of money, it's hard. But you can always learn skills by yourself. You have the internet at your disposal.

 

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[alexkuzmov]

Hello everyone, I am aware that focusing on one business is the best thing and most of the time the results don't come right away. What I'm wondering is how do you figure out if it's worth continuing to work on that business or if it's time to move on to something else? MJ DeMarco failed in various businesses before he became rich, but if he had insisted on one of those maybe now he would be even richer. I hope I have explained myself, good day everyone.

This is a rather strange question with many many answers.
You might want to put a time cap on your business, or a money cap or you can hit a physics wall which makes your idea immpossible.
The list is endless.

Why do you ask this question?
Are you working on a business which isnt taking off the ground?

 

[pumpking]

For me it was a year in my first startup. However I was only able to focus on the business part time (due to a 9-5). Had I been at it full time I likely would have wrapped up in 6 months. You should see some incremental progress month over month, if you're not I would set aside time to seriously reflect and see if it's just you doing something wrong, or the whole venture being wrong.

 

[Wil22]

OTE="BlackLands, post: 897684, member: 68309"]
Hello everyone, I am aware that focusing on one business is the best thing, and most of the time, the results don't come right away. What I'm wondering is how do you figure out if it's worth continuing to work on that business or if it's time to move on to something else? MJ DeMarco failed in various businesses before he became rich, but if he had insisted on one of those maybe now he would be even richer. I hope I have explained myself, good day everyone.
[/QUOTE]
I love this question as I have been struggling with it for some time now. I purchased a franchise years ago and made some money. Pre-purchase I drew a line of goals: ROI, effective marketing performance, engagements, conversions, and the growth of prospects per week, among other metrics(unfortunately, I didn't read DeMarco's books and never included my time). From my data, I forecasted a weak future and ended my contract after three years.
More recently, I represented a company selling its hiring services nationwide. They required I purchase and inventory a sizeable amount of their representative tools without offering support. Crazy, I know. By this time I had finished MJ's first book and am 90% finished with UnScripted . Eureka moment. I thought, "What the hell am I doing trading my time for high expenses with slow or no growth?" A real FTE epiphany. I also violated specific components of C.E.N.T.S: No Control, easy entrance (after paying for a ton of product required to be a reseller) along with an unknown need. I just ended the relationship after six months.
One could argue I didn't give it enough time. Perhaps. But at what cost and for how long?
Perseverance is a favored word and can be used with any initiative. "You have to put in the effort," "Never give up," "Don't wimp out." These corollaries create, in my opinion, a false reason for continuation after the mission has been deemed a failure. I insist any business I own/represent must show traction (results) quickly otherwise its a hobby. You get to decide what "quickly" means, guilt-free. If you determine it's not working for you, cut your losses and move on. The education you gain is still positive.

 

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[100ToOne]

It all depends really.

On my first business, I was making real profits from day 1, having 0 costs. So even if I don't sell anything, I would only be losing time rather than money.
So changing it would of at least took me another 2 years to see if it's worth it or not, since everything was paid and I was financially comfortable.

My second business, I lost $15k before making one sale, and for the next 2 years I barely made what covers the costs of the business and barely any profits. However, since I was stranded by a legal contract, it took me 2.5 years to run away and sell it at a loss. Had it not been on contract, the first 6 months would of been sufficient to know that I was heading down a hill. Hell, if it was my decision to own the business, I wouldn't of started it because the numbers showed it's a definite loss.

I just gave you a couple of examples that you can maybe get something out of.

I'd say generally, 6m-1yr is a good range to see if you're going to be able to scale it in the future, or if you're gonna create more problems that'll harm you.

In conclusion, don't sign contracts that get you stuck in rent/payments for more than 6 months or max a year if you're new to the business.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[BlackLands]

This is a rather strange question with many many answers.
You might want to put a time cap on your business, or a money cap or you can hit a physics wall which makes your idea immpossible.
The list is endless.

Why do you ask this question?
Are you working on a business which isnt taking off the ground?

I started dropshipping about a week ago and I'm taking various online courses and reading about it. At the moment I'm losing money but my question is not meant as a surrender, I know how difficult it is and how long it takes to start seeing the first earnings. These are questions that sooner or later we all ask ourselves and reading the answers from people more experienced than me, can only increase me and give value to the whole community.