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

[freedomgo]

If you see your finances are all used up and yet your business is not making any progress, i think there’s no reason for you to continue your business. Accept the fact that not everyone succeed in business, some might have been lucky enough while others become unfortunate and failed. But never blame yourself for that, maybe you just have entered a wrong business that does not fit your personality and skills. Maybe in the near future, you can think of another business that will have bigger chances to prosper and become profitable, that’s when you have enough funds again to serve as a capital.

[Taskford]

Well i never run a business but maybe i understand a little bit about business. I never seen someone who run a business for the first time and succeded. So, if your business not giving you profit maybe you need to analyze it. Find the problem then take a good approach to solve it. Or, maybe you try new one.

I've seen some. It's quite rare but it does happens that someone who's new to the business and it's not luck that made these people successful with their very first try.

On those businessmen that are not profiting within years and thinking of quiting, that's a good reasoning that there should be something they're must accept to keep going and that is to think that they're doing a hobby instead of a business.

Just set a period of time but 3 years is too much commitment and if that's the actual commitment a businessman can give to his failing business, he sees something that we can't see and that's totally fine.

There are times you need to let go on something unprofitable for you if it didn't give you a good result for years, maybe you are not doing good upon running the operation so maybe its good to stop it for a while and plan this for next time around like studying the market and how you can advertise your product very well then maybe from that when you launch your product again you gain good result. We have social media now which can maximize everything so feasible study is just really need to see our target markets.

3 years period is to much and imagine how many losses he get before he earn a success but still kudos to that person who didn't give up since it end up well to him even if he struggle for so many years.

[pantek talacuik]

Well i never run a business but maybe i understand a little bit about business. I never seen someone who run a business for the first time and succeded. So, if your business not giving you profit maybe you need to analyze it. Find the problem then take a good approach to solve it. Or, maybe you try new one.

It's quite easy and this is almost the same as the Chinese principle, if the business you manage doesn't produce anything then leave it and think about starting a new business that makes you more calm. But sometimes calm is needed to see the business going according to plan and not be too hasty to take action.

[Unbunplease]

There is such a concept in business - "to sit a place". Although you can usually draw some conclusions in the first few months after starting a business about the success of the business, people will persist in an unsuccessful business for years, investing more and more money in nowhere. One reason for this behavior is that people don't want to admit that their original plan was unsuccessful.

[Joshapat]

Of course we see the prospects for the business, if the business doesn't show improvement of course closing is better than surviving but continuing to lose money, but if the trend shows good but because we are still not known then the best thing is to increase marketing costs, and I think big business will started with a loss.

[uswa56]

I really agree with what Kelvin O'Neal said, it's true that we must dare to leave unprofitable business because it will only be a waste of time.
I once found someone who did business because that field was his hobby and because of excessive love so he continued to run his business even though he didn't get the profit there, everything he did was just a hobby and in my opinion that was a mistake.

in doing business, courage is very important, courage when opening or starting a business and courage to leave the business.

[Minecache]

It's up to you, if you don't have the capital to maintain, you don't need to borrow more, and when you've tried your best, using all means still can't revive the business. It's time to give it up. It will be a tough decision to give up on your dreams, but sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you expected. We need to accept reality and start over with another chance.

I also had to close my small business because it wasn't making a profit, which was desperate, but it wasn't the end. Thanks to those failures, I now have a stable job with a higher income. When one door closes, another door opens.

[Flexystar]

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."

I think 3 years is fairly enough time for one can understand whether the ship is sailing or ship is sinking. In the long run, we have to keep track of our savings, investments, and expenses that were done in the business. The sole purpose of business is to grow what you have invested, and with some luck have business branding in the long run and get entered into the riches club.

For one reason, he stated the truth. If you are just going on and on without profits then the business isn't going in the right direction. Moreover, you should also focus on the fact that you have to survive! You can't just end up spending more than what you can afford in life. Also, if the business is being failure again and again then that person definitely needs a proper manager.

[bangjoe]

-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?

I think it's too painful, doing business three years but not having a profit, I doubt that it is doing business. If the calculation is half a year or six months of not getting a profit from the business that is being carried out, I think many of us have experienced it because it is a marketing, adaptation, expedition and other step in doing business.
Doing business in the first three years and not profit, I personally have never felt it.

I agree with his statement, imagine operating your business for three years without improvement, you should let go of it. Because if you're really into that business you would do something that will help for your business to boom. If its no progress then it would be consider as a hobby. However, there's a scenario where some businesses are not meant for you, therefore you can connect your hobbies to your business for example, you really like collecting shoes and you've decided to resell as a business. Then it would be easier for you to have an idea on how to run your businesses since you have a good background on how to handle shoes.

Yes, adjusting it to a hobby is indeed quite ideal, just like you like luxury cars so you understand and you are able to open a business related to luxury cars, or anything that suits your hobby. But if it is based too much on a hobby, then it is not a business but a hobby, which is profitable or not profitable, it will still be carried out even if it suffers a loss.
The most important thing in business is that in my opinion it doesn't have to be according to your hobby, but the most important thing is that you understand the business sector that you are running and secondly you have to be able to adapt to changing times so that your product or service sells well in the market.

[Bananington]

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

An unprofitable business will fold up on its own after a couple of years due to lack of profits to keep it going. The only way that business survives is if you somehow keep putting money into it, that is money that you get from another source of income. If that is the situation, stop that's business when you are tired of funding the business from another source, when a business should be able to run itself financially. If you decide to keep the unprofitable business running, you will be dragged into more losses because of your refusal to let the business go.

[livingfree]

I've seen some. It's quite rare but it does happens that someone who's new to the business and it's not luck that made these people successful with their very first try.

On those businessmen that are not profiting within years and thinking of quiting, that's a good reasoning that there should be something they're must accept to keep going and that is to think that they're doing a hobby instead of a business.

Just set a period of time but 3 years is too much commitment and if that's the actual commitment a businessman can give to his failing business, he sees something that we can't see and that's totally fine.

There are times you need to let go on something unprofitable for you if it didn't give you a good result for years, maybe you are not doing good upon running the operation so maybe its good to stop it for a while and plan this for next time around like studying the market and how you can advertise your product very well then maybe from that when you launch your product again you gain good result. We have social media now which can maximize everything so feasible study is just really need to see our target markets.

3 years period is to much and imagine how many losses he get before he earn a success but still kudos to that person who didn't give up since it end up well to him even if he struggle for so many years.

Yeah, it's like a chain that you have to let go so that you'll be freed and set free.

And in that case that some really are setting up to years, they're people that have a huge patience to what they're doing. Instead of giving up and doing something else, maybe that's truly their passion are.

I've read success stories of people like Jack Ma, it's not even just 3 years of failure for him but I think that's 10 years. So, being persistent and believing to what you do is the key of determination but if you think you have to let go, let go.

[Hispo]

I would say it depends on the personal budget you have invested in the business and the risk/profit ratio one is dealing with. I mostly agree that if one project is not profitable then it must be abandoned and tried something different, the time though seems rather longer from that I would go for.

I would only try for 1 or 2 years, since I doubt I could operate at lost for 3 entire years.

Also, these cases where companies keep going even if they lost money in a stubborn way does not only happen in small projects, but also in multi billionaire ones:
If you have time, you should check the case of Wework, and how they have managed to survive by burning investors money with no profit in sight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHQTzeve7OM

It is almost a legal scam. 

[libert19]

Some companies want expansion/growth first and would want to focus on that part despite making losses or being unprofitable, for this they should be having resources which help them sustain such periods. Look at Paytm, company that revolutionized payment system in India, it was started in 2010, made losses year after year but it's thriving.

[Gallar]

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 ?

His statement has a very broad meaning, because everything must be considered first, starting from the type of business, where to open a business, business capital and whether you have maximized in terms of promotion.
because all the factors that I wrote determine how strong the potential is to advance the business.

That statement is not wrong, but sometimes there are times when you keep trying and going through something continuously, in the future it will definitely produce results.
three years without any progress in business is not a short time, but if you have been determined from the start to want to progress through the business you are currently in, it is better to just live it, to the point where you are sure to continue or just stop.

[Sebas.tian]

Three years is enough for someone to use to study his or her business, if it's profitable or not before moving ahead or quit the business and try another one that will be profitable in future. That is why is good to carry out a personal research before starting a business in any location, because it will help you to understand Many things that will make you to further your business when profits is coming the way you want it which is part of some of the things every business men and women want to experience on the time. I will not remain in a business that is not profitable more than two years before I will change the business to try another for me not to waste energy, effort and money at the moment

[Kelvinid]

Well, I think OP, waiting for 3 years before deciding to stop continuing our business is dumb. I believe a year of running our business we know already the status of our business and whether it was profitable or not, even just 6 months we can feel bad about it seeing how much is coming in versus how much is coming out. I shouldn't have to wait that long, so I disagree unless you really have a huge amount of money backing up so you still survive. And this is not really happening, businessmen can't sacrifice their pockets to save their business from closing down but rather move on and open another business.

[Lorence.xD]

Well, I think OP, waiting for 3 years before deciding to stop continuing our business is dumb. I believe a year of running our business we know already the status of our business and whether it was profitable or not, even just 6 months we can feel bad about it seeing how much is coming in versus how much is coming out. I shouldn't have to wait that long, so I disagree unless you really have a huge amount of money backing up so you still survive. And this is not really happening, businessmen can't sacrifice their pockets to save their business from closing down but rather move on and open another business.

Waiting for years just to know if your business is good will make you bankrupt. If you keep investing at the business even it doesn't give good feedback then you'll have to let it go. I agree the fact even in months you can determine the results of your business whether its good or not. Is unnecessary to wait 3 years unless this business is hard for you to shut it down. Some businesses is not for you especially in the environment of your business. Know what people would like to have, for you to open a business that people would buy. What's your target customer? Is it good to build this kind of business close to a park? You should know if its good first to establish a business to avoid losing a lot of money. But its part of your experience hope the OP would learn from this

[awik p]

Well, I think OP, waiting for 3 years before deciding to stop continuing our business is dumb. I believe a year of running our business we know already the status of our business and whether it was profitable or not, even just 6 months we can feel bad about it seeing how much is coming in versus how much is coming out. I shouldn't have to wait that long, so I disagree unless you really have a huge amount of money backing up so you still survive. And this is not really happening, businessmen can't sacrifice their pockets to save their business from closing down but rather move on and open another business.

Waiting for years just to know if your business is good will make you bankrupt. If you keep investing at the business even it doesn't give good feedback then you'll have to let it go. I agree the fact even in months you can determine the results of your business whether its good or not. Is unnecessary to wait 3 years unless this business is hard for you to shut it down. Some businesses is not for you especially in the environment of your business. Know what people would like to have, for you to open a business that people would buy. What's your target customer? Is it good to build this kind of business close to a park? You should know if its good first to establish a business to avoid losing a lot of money. But its part of your experience hope the OP would learn from this

3 years is a long period of time to analyze the business we live in. here it takes firmness from an owner to stop or believe in his business one day it will be successful, but of course it requires a very hard struggle for the next. henceforth there is nothing wrong because it is a choice, and of course every choice we already know the consequences. from that it is ourselves who should be committed regardless of other people to take a stand

[YUriy1991]

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?

Kelvin O'Neal's assertion that an unprofitable business should close after 36 months (3 years) is a wise approach. This period is sufficient time to evaluate business continuity and make necessary adjustments.

I think there may be exceptions where the business has a solid foundation and potential for future success, in which case it might be worth continuing. Nonetheless, entrepreneurs should regularly assess their business performance to avoid wasting resources on failed ventures. As a language model, I have no personal experience running a business.

[xSkylarx]

Well, I think OP, waiting for 3 years before deciding to stop continuing our business is dumb. I believe a year of running our business we know already the status of our business and whether it was profitable or not, even just 6 months we can feel bad about it seeing how much is coming in versus how much is coming out. I shouldn't have to wait that long, so I disagree unless you really have a huge amount of money backing up so you still survive. And this is not really happening, businessmen can't sacrifice their pockets to save their business from closing down but rather move on and open another business.

Waiting for years just to know if your business is good will make you bankrupt. If you keep investing at the business even it doesn't give good feedback then you'll have to let it go. I agree the fact even in months you can determine the results of your business whether its good or not. Is unnecessary to wait 3 years unless this business is hard for you to shut it down. Some businesses is not for you especially in the environment of your business. Know what people would like to have, for you to open a business that people would buy. What's your target customer? Is it good to build this kind of business close to a park? You should know if its good first to establish a business to avoid losing a lot of money. But its part of your experience hope the OP would learn from this

3 years is a long period of time to analyze the business we live in. here it takes firmness from an owner to stop or believe in his business one day it will be successful, but of course it requires a very hard struggle for the next. henceforth there is nothing wrong because it is a choice, and of course every choice we already know the consequences. from that it is ourselves who should be committed regardless of other people to take a stand

Imagine paying bills or rent within 3 years if your business is not profitable. You'll go broke that time, and instead of transitioning to another business, you'll get into debt because of your current business that is not profitable. That is why, for example, if you don't make a profit for a year (consecutive months) despite making some improvements to increase profits, it isn't working, and it is time to start another business.