How Long in Years Should I Wait Before I Close Down an Unprofitable Business

[Adams0001]

If you are doing business and you see that it is not moving forward, you should think and observe what is going on with it, that you are not making profit, but there is no business that brings profit easily, before you start a business, you should know about what you are trying to establish in business, you should think about what customers prefer to buy that increase the customer happiness and service.so that you can sell to them and advertise it, because it is sometimes difficult to get profit when starting new business. Is not advisable you should stay for 3years if business is not going smoothly, is better you should change it and go for new one.

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[dansus021]

This is an interesting topic in

it really is I have a youtube channel and a website that have been live for more than 3 years and don't give me the profit yet, at least for now but there is people viewing the channel or visit the website while I still pay for the game and internet for the youtube channel and pay the domain for the website.

I dont want give up when see the analytic and remember how much i spend for this but in the other hand I want to give up because it took multi-year and still not any single cent transferred to my bank account.


If you guys know about startup like Grab Uber or doordash the company still make unprofitable business and still operating

- https://finance.yahoo.com/ (Grab Annual Revenue)

[19Nov16]

The hardest thing for entrepreneurs is to be able to survive and not loss in the first 3 years, according to the results of a study from experts, it takes at least 3 years for entrepreneurs to know whether the business will be profit or closed, unfortunately when 2 or 3 months loss then many are impatient so as to close Business and thinking looking for other business opportunities.

[AnonBitCoiner]

Maybe a year or two. After that, when there are no substantial profits that are entering, then maybe I will consider for a change of business idea that I think will fit more on my current location. Although some have still manage to recover after years of not profiting, but know that not all businesses have the same fate. Some are just there to teach you some lessons so that you will discover in yourself on what type of business you will most likely to succeed to.

the duration of two years are very long and some people stop that business in which they did not get anything in a single year. Business foundation also depends on the location and advantages will be increase if you settled a business with huge knowledge about it.

I will suggest that never settle the foundation of business directly and prior to it you should get experience by setting with another businessman to know how to get profit. experience will make you more profitable and even after experience you don't get profit then that business is not for you and you should now change that business with something else that gives you huge returns.

[arwin100]

The hardest thing for entrepreneurs is to be able to survive and not loss in the first 3 years, according to the results of a study from experts, it takes at least 3 years for entrepreneurs to know whether the business will be profit or closed, unfortunately when 2 or 3 months loss then many are impatient so as to close Business and thinking looking for other business opportunities.

Its understandable especially if the entrepreneur doesn't have much money to spend and they can't afford to lose more bigger before they can see the result of the efforts they made thru the business they create. Nothing wrong about closing if you cannot able to make it since there are still many chances and learnings that we can apply once we are trying to bounce back again. What's more important their is you learn from previous mistakes and you can do different approach to try if other things might work for second or third try building up a new business.

[Afnan_faizah]

I tried to build some business and it do make money for me but it is still unprofitable. I was close down the business after 3 months, I realize my shortcomings was the location, the location is little bit too far from my target customers also it is in a big road which very crowded and very difficult to reach. Now I realize that it's not only about the traffic but it's more about the easy access. I will try to be better if I have another chance. I think you should close it now and try other business.

[Gozie51]

The hardest thing for entrepreneurs is to be able to survive and not loss in the first 3 years, according to the results of a study from experts, it takes at least 3 years for entrepreneurs to know whether the business will be profit or closed, unfortunately when 2 or 3 months loss then many are impatient so as to close Business and thinking looking for other business opportunities.

If you will allow a business to be ran in three years with out profit that depends on the nature of business especially if it is not the business you expect to feed from directly for survival. If it is a family business that is based on consumption then you need to hit the ground running. A business where you expect not to make profit in three years, you also must have prepared salaries for those taste starting it, maybe that is the area that op was making reference with the excerpts he made. IMO, three years duration of waiting for business to start bringing out profit is quite a long time.

[dothebeats]

I tried to build some business and it do make money for me but it is still unprofitable. I was close down the business after 3 months, I realize my shortcomings was the location, the location is little bit too far from my target customers also it is in a big road which very crowded and very difficult to reach. Now I realize that it's not only about the traffic but it's more about the easy access. I will try to be better if I have another chance. I think you should close it now and try other business.

Good realization on that one. If a business is only getting worse at time passes by and you know for yourself that there is something that needs to be done to improve it, you have an option to either solve that problem and see where it takes you or close the business and start over. It is different for each of us and the businesses we handle.

[isaac_clarke22]

This is an interesting topic in

it really is I have a youtube channel and a website that have been live for more than 3 years and don't give me the profit yet, at least for now but there is people viewing the channel or visit the website while I still pay for the game and internet for the youtube channel and pay the domain for the website.

I dont want give up when see the analytic and remember how much i spend for this but in the other hand I want to give up because it took multi-year and still not any single cent transferred to my bank account.

That's weird. You should be able to earn from your Youtube channel already as a content creator unless you're not actively uploading or not getting enough viewership from it. If you're having fair amount of subs, likes and views, you should definitely apply for Youtube Partner to be able to monetize your videos and you know the rest already.

For sites, not sure if you built the site from scratch but you can start freelancing business either as a backend, frontend, or full stack dev. Not sure what country you reside from, but clients usually pay a lot in freelancing. There are freaking lowballers, but a good and well-paying client should be there.

[flyingcarpet]

I tried to build some business and it do make money for me but it is still unprofitable. I was close down the business after 3 months, I realize my shortcomings was the location, the location is little bit too far from my target customers also it is in a big road which very crowded and very difficult to reach. Now I realize that it's not only about the traffic but it's more about the easy access. I will try to be better if I have another chance. I think you should close it now and try other business.

Sometimes in such situations people are stubborn and do not do what is necessary. If the business is making a loss, steps should be taken to close it down. Otherwise, you may exhaust all available resources. You may also be wasting the capital needed to start another business in a failed business.

Sometimes we do not know whether a business will be profitable or not until we open it. Therefore, we should not be stubborn in our decisions. If the business is not profitable and we know what went wrong, we should take action. I think what you are doing here is right. You saw what the problem was and closed the business without making a loss. Otherwise you will continue to lose.

[D ltr]

I tried to build some business and it do make money for me but it is still unprofitable. I was close down the business after 3 months, I realize my shortcomings was the location, the location is little bit too far from my target customers also it is in a big road which very crowded and very difficult to reach. Now I realize that it's not only about the traffic but it's more about the easy access. I will try to be better if I have another chance. I think you should close it now and try other business.

location is indeed something that must be considered in doing business or opening an offline business, but if you also open an online shop I think it can cover existing losses, especially now that offline market enthusiasts have decreased, people prefer to shop online, so this might be your consideration when starting Do business again,  with online shop options provided on the trade platforms offered in your country

[Japinat]

If there are no potential profits coming in within a year, then for me it’s best to think another business that will most likely to click in that certain area or location. You can actually chose not to close your business but maybe use the same location to create another business that will most likely gain more demand from the people around.

Business uses a trial an error method too. If the first idea does not work out, then do not waste your time on it. Proceed to your next plan and try out a new business idea then maybe that will work this time. Just be patient if everything does not work based on your plans, learn from it and grow.

[Quidat]

The hardest thing for entrepreneurs is to be able to survive and not loss in the first 3 years, according to the results of a study from experts, it takes at least 3 years for entrepreneurs to know whether the business will be profit or closed, unfortunately when 2 or 3 months loss then many are impatient so as to close Business and thinking looking for other business opportunities.

Its understandable especially if the entrepreneur doesn't have much money to spend and they can't afford to lose more bigger before they can see the result of the efforts they made thru the business they create. Nothing wrong about closing if you cannot able to make it since there are still many chances and learnings that we can apply once we are trying to bounce back again. What's more important their is you learn from previous mistakes and you can do different approach to try if other things might work for second or third try building up a new business.

You are the ones who would be able to find out on what timeframe or extent you would be able to tolerate out such losses because there are ones who do really just waiting for a month or a year basing up on how much you could be able to afford to lose or patching up those negatives on a unprofitable business until you would really be making out  such conclusions whether you would be proceeding or would really be stopping.Its true that there's no point on continuing on a business isnt generating income because the primary reason on why we do make out a business or investment is that we are really that looking for another source of income and if there's nothing that it could give out and worst it do really give negative. Then why would proceed or continue? There's no point on doing that.
In my case if i do see that i do have negative income or profit on a particular month then i would be making out some observations for about 2-3 months before making such conclusion and decision
whether i would continue or not.

[dansus021]

That's weird. You should be able to earn from your Youtube channel already as a content creator unless you're not actively uploading or not getting enough viewership from it. If you're having fair amount of subs, likes and views, you should definitely apply for Youtube Partner to be able to monetize your videos and you know the rest already.

For sites, not sure if you built the site from scratch but you can start freelancing business either as a backend, frontend, or full stack dev. Not sure what country you reside from, but clients usually pay a lot in freelancing. There are freaking lowballers, but a good and well-paying client should be there.

Yes to be partnered with youtube is really hard you need at least 4 thousand watch hour and Im still at a thousand currently and need 1000 subscriber and i have 1,4K subs now but to get 4000 watch hours is tricky part since I only have short video but when I uploaded long video no want watch it 
Why I dont give up because monthly view is already reached 1-2K so I dont want to give up now hahahha

For the site Im making Blog and basically dont have really specific niche so I throw it what happened in my mind

and for the OP i just quick search that Grab Holding that listed on Nasdaq according to https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GRAB/ still not unprofitable for couple of year it more that 4 year

[Strongkored]

If you are doing business and you see that it is not moving forward, you should think and observe what is going on with it, that you are not making profit, but there is no business that brings profit easily, before you start a business, you should know about what you are trying to establish in business, you should think about what customers prefer to buy that increase the customer happiness and service.so that you can sell to them and advertise it, because it is sometimes difficult to get profit when starting new business. Is not advisable you should stay for 3years if business is not going smoothly, is better you should change it and go for new one.

The statement can be true but it can also be wrong, what must be done to be able to prove the statement is true or false is an evaluation, in evaluation we can know that the business being run is not profitable and must be closed down, but you see many big companies that take a long time to be successful ultimately the company is profitable.
I once left a business that had been running for only 2 years not because it was not profitable but because I was not comfortable with this type of business because it really took up a lot of time so I no longer had the opportunity to do anything else. If your business is not going well but you are still very happy to do it why should you leave it because at least you get happiness in doing it even though the profits are not big

[lienfaye]

The hardest thing for entrepreneurs is to be able to survive and not loss in the first 3 years, according to the results of a study from experts, it takes at least 3 years for entrepreneurs to know whether the business will be profit or closed, unfortunately when 2 or 3 months loss then many are impatient so as to close Business and thinking looking for other business opportunities.

Well, 2 to 3 months are a short period to give up. It's a crucial stage to do your best through promoting and think of what your customers might like in order to be attractive and be competitive (if there's other same business near you).

It takes guts if you don't want your effort go wasted just because you're impatient and don't want to continue trying. On the other side, as an entrepreneur, you'll know if the business is gaining or it's already time to closed it down. That is, if you already did what you can do to make it profitable. Maybe that's not the right location or suited business for you so just keep trying.

[Rupok]

In order to do business successfully, there are certain things to keep in mind.  If one can do business with honesty and integrity then he will surely succeed.  Although there are both profit and loss in business so a businessman  must be patient.  But in the beginning one does not get much idea about the profit and loss of the business but after two or three years one definitely gets a good idea whether the business is making loss or profit.But the most difficult task for many businessman  is to survive in the first 3 years. When they see the loss of business in the beginning, they stop business and think of something else.Those whose spend are more than their income may have more losses.  Therefore, if you want to do business, you have to understand the income and spend it, then it is possible to be successful.

[xSkylarx]

I tried to build some business and it do make money for me but it is still unprofitable. I was close down the business after 3 months, I realize my shortcomings was the location, the location is little bit too far from my target customers also it is in a big road which very crowded and very difficult to reach. Now I realize that it's not only about the traffic but it's more about the easy access. I will try to be better if I have another chance. I think you should close it now and try other business.

location is indeed something that must be considered in doing business or opening an offline business, but if you also open an online shop I think it can cover existing losses, especially now that offline market enthusiasts have decreased, people prefer to shop online, so this might be your consideration when starting Do business again,  with online shop options provided on the trade platforms offered in your country

But having both is good. I mean, if you have a local restaurant, it is better to have it on site as well as on social media where the customers can order and deliver their food because it is so boring if you are just opening online and cooking at home. That is why both are better, and mostly, the online presence is also a marketing strategy. If you've posted your food in an attractive way, for sure you'll get trending and a lot of customers will buy your food.

[Captain Corporate]

Isn't this also a "forced" thing? Like if you can't afford to keep it going then you close it, if you can keep it going then you do not close it. I get that he thinks that it should be closed if its not making enough profit, but at the same time if you are still sustaining after 3 years, then it must be bringing at least SOME money. Think about it, for three years, where did the money came from to pay your mortgage or rent, where did the bills were paid, where did the money came from to help you feed yourself and your family. Basically unless you saved 3 years worth of costs for you and your business beforehand and then spent that while making nothing, then I guess the business already is doing fine. Sure maybe its not worth millions and millions of dollars, but if it pays for you and your family, that's success enough. If it doesn't, then you are already forced to close down to shop and find money somewhere.

[Fortify]

How long in years should I go before I give up and close down a business that is unprofitable?

I was listening to a podcast where Kelvin O'Neal¹ was featured. He said, "If you are not making money after 36months(3 years), you've gotta take a behind the barn and shoot it. It's just a hobby. It's not a business."

According to him, "people can get so stuck on a bad idea that they just keep thinking that if I keep working on it, it's going to fix itself. It doesn't fix itself. It was put on your journey to teach you, what not to do."

- To what extent do you agree or disagree with this assertion ?

-Have you had a business that even though it wasn't profitable in the first three (3) years, then it  kicked off to bring in good returns in the fourth (4th) year?

3 years does seem like a long enough time to determine whether a business is profitable and whether you have the right passion to sustain it over the long run. It's far too easy, especially in the age of internet businesses, to leave a business running as a zombie or barely breaking profit. Sometimes it can be hard as the business owner to admit to yourself that a lot of invested time and money was potentially wasted along the way, if it is unable to sustain itself or see a bright enough future to keep going. However it can be freeing once the process has ended and you can start to heal again, maybe choosing a different idea or building up savings again by working for someone else.