You should know when to quit
Knowing when to quit is so important and still some people do not even contemplate the option.
Whatever you do in life, whether in business or not, it is essential not to give up on your dreams. To pursue that great job you want, to try and reach financial freedom, to buy that dream house you always wanted.
As an entrepreneur it works the same way, you need to be stronger than the rest and not be afraid of failure. Get up the next morning and keep on going with the same passion as the first day.
All that is true and necessary, but don’t be blinded by it and learn when to quit!
I personally started various online projects, some with more success than others, but I have always pulled the plug when I feel I cannot pay the attention necessary to the business or I simple realise it is not going to happen. It is not a nice feeling after investing your money and time, however I prefer to cut the losses and focus on something else.
This subject has come up during a conversation I had with my wife last night. We were actually commenting on a couple we see every summer. They have a printing business and every time it is the same story, things are not going well, the economy is bad, etc. May it all be true, but you cannot go through all that for 3/4 years and not realise that something is wrong with your business. Maybe you are not capable of finding new clients or there is simply too much competition, but…
Don’t you think you should just quit the business and do something else?
I understand its not easy, you have been doing it for years and you have the skills. However the point is that it is not working any more. Even worse, both of them work in the same business. So basically all the family income depends on it. It is a shame.
The best advice you can give: quit, cut your losses and find a new path.
image source: Google images
Ask never fear to ask
Ask you lose nothing
Ask don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice, you will be surprised what you may get. At the end of the day, you lose nothing.
Listen what happened to me the other day. I was searching for a movie at the local video club when the owner asked me something. Before we go any further, you have to be aware of what the Owner knows about me, he knows my name and he knows I am Spanish, thats it.
So the guy asks me “Adan do you know any shipowners in Spain?” what are the chances right? That I know these people, quite small…
I asked him why he was asking, he responded that he was helping a friend to sell anti-piracy systems to shipowners. He was already doing business in Germany and of course in Greece. He saw me come into his shop and he thought…”he is spanish, maybe he knows spanish shipowners..”
The best part of this story is that I do know the shipowners, I used to work in the shipping sector in Spain for some time and have all the contacts.
I was shocked by this coincidence and congratulated him on his luck. This story just shows that although chances maybe small, we do not lose anything just for asking.
You just may get lucky!
Image source: www.sxc.hu
Changes
I have been very quiet lately. Why? Well, it has been a period of changes, profesionally I mean.
After a period of 4 years as an Export Manager at Farmeco I decided it was time to move on.
I now work at Genepharm Group as Director of Distributor Management to drive sales of Genepharm products in international markets.
This new position is stimulating and full of challenges!
Stay hungry, stay foolish
Today I read a tweet by @tristanelosegui where he recalls the video below. I know that in my last post there was also a speech and graduates involved, but I just wanted to share this while it was still fresh.
Stay hungry, stay foolish.
This is Steve Jobs’ message in his commencement speech to Stanford University graduates of in 2005.
Actually, I had already seen this video a couple of times a while ago and saved it to my favourites. However, I decided to view it again today.
Its impressive and if you haven’t seen it yet, you should spear some minutes to watch it because maybe….. it will change the way you think about certain things.
What struck me most was this:
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
When I ask my self this question, I come to the conclusion there are things I want to change. I have made a list and I am taking action.
How about you?
Full text of the speech: Full text
My companion in 2010
Inspiration for 2010
I always carry with me this quote inspiring and driving most decisions I take in life:
Go do whatever it takes to get yourself in a position where you love what you do, where you care about what you do, where you want to inspire others, build great things, do great deeds.
Pure gold by Shelly Lazarus, chair of the advertising, marketing, and public relations agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, addressing graduates of the Smeal College of Business class of 2009.
What do you think?
Full text: Shelly Lazarus
Image source: www.sxc.hu
The power of 1%
The power of 1%
Today is December the 11th and we are all thinking about 2010. The key subject for many of us is how are we going to improve next year, how are we going to grow personally and professionally.
If this is your case, I have a great reading for you.
I read this last year and it is a letter sent by Alfred Lin, COO-CFO at Zappos.com, to all employees of the company. Zappos.com is an e-commerce company specializing in footwear recently acquired by amazon.com
One thing I encourage you to do is to refer back to our Core Values document and specifically the challenge in there: make at least one improvement every week that makes Zappos better. Ideally, we would do this every single day. It sounds daunting, but remember improvements don’t have to be dramatic. Think about what it means to improve just 1% per day and build upon that every single day. Doing so has a dramatic effect and will make us 37x better, not 365% (3.65x) better at the end of the year. Wake up every day and ask yourself not only what is the 1% improvement I can change to make Zappos better, but also what is the 1% improvement I can change to make myself better personally and professionally – because we, Zappos, can’t grow unless we as individual people grow too.
A great message from a management point of view and very adequate for all aspects of life.
So what do you think? is it doable?
Link to the full letter: here
Image source: www.sxc.hu