Is it time to give up your business? Have you given it your all? What do you need to evaluate to decide your next step? Most businesses that are ready to throw in the towel need more leads for their business. This can be done with effective online relationship marketing. Be sure to leave your comments. What's pushing your business to the edge? What keeps you from throwing in the towel? Thanks for your ideas!! https://compassroseconsulting.com/ Schedule Your Consult: http://meetwithdonna.com

1. Should You Throw in the Towel?

2. Operating a business is not an easy task.

3. I have always relied on 3 principles or
values:
• commitment
• perseverance
• risk.

4. It takes all of these to make it in business.
• If you are considering going
into business,
• If you don’t have these traits
or
• Characteristics you should
throw in the towel before
you start because these are
essential.

5. Once you are in business, you have to keep
going back to these.

6. A long time ago I learned about commitment
when I was rock climbing.

7. I was high off the ground.
You know stories grow as
you tell them, and at one
point in this story I was
hundreds of feet off the
ground,
but really probably about
30 feet off the ground.

8. High enough!! I was stuck.
I could feel the next place for my
foot but it was just out of reach.
I could see the hand hold but I
couldn’t reach it. Precariously
perched on the side of the
mountain I searched for
alternatives.

9. My belayer (the person holding
my rope/my life) was patient
with me. After I had exhausted
all of the possibilities and didn’t
find an alternative, he said, “you
have to commit to the move,
you just have to go for it. “ He
meant I had to let go of the
safety of my perch and reach
out, risk and make a
commitment to making it to the
next hold. I took a deep breath
and did it. I made the move and
I learned a lesson.

10. In my business I have used that
lesson over and over.
• There are many
metaphors there:
– taking a risk,
– staying focused and on
my path, and
commitment.

11. Stay the course…
• When I have questioned my
business I go back to the
rocks of Joshua Tree
National Monument and
remember that it takes total
commitment to be successful
in business and that I have to
“commit to the move”.

12. Next is perseverance.

13. I learned this lesson biking
across the country from
Maine to Oregon.
Now that in itself takes
some perseverance, but
the real lesson came in
Wyoming in the Big Horn
Mountains.

14. • We had to cross the Rocky
Mountains somewhere and
the Big Horns looked like
the best option. The climb
was 30+ miles long. For
me, that means I am biking
between 3 and 6 miles per
hour for a very long time.
There I learned that no
matter how slow I was
going I had to keep pushing
that pedal to make it to the
top of the mountain.

15. Business Growth
There are times when in business it feels like a BIG
mountain climb. Some days the mountain is not as steep
and the climb isn’t as long and some days it is a very long
climb. But I also know that it is perseverance that keeps
me moving my business forward. One of the tools that I
use is an accomplishment list or journal
There are days when you are climbing that
mountain or putting out fires that you just
can’t see what you have accomplished. An
accomplishment journal helps because
when you start listing all of the things that
you did do, and it is amazing. It can
energize you and keep you moving.

16. Finally is risk. Business is risk.
• You are stepping out of the comfort zone of a JOB and
into being an entrepreneur.
• Not everyone can take that risk and live with that risk.
• Sometimes the risk lasts for a long time before the payoff
comes.
• You have to know yourself and what you can tolerate
and what your life can tolerate.

17. WHEN YOU ARE IN
BUSINESS YOU ARE
IN THE DRIVER’S
SEAT AND YOU ARE
MAKING THE
DECISIONS ABOUT
WHAT IS
ACCEPTABLE.

18. It is vital that you are looking at your entire
business.
• You need to have your finger on the pulse of your
organization in several areas:
• Vision
• Strategy
• Staff
• Money

19. Vision –
• You need to have a clear and compelling vision that
helps to energize you and draw you into the future.
• Be clear on what you are creating so that you don’t get
distracted or pulled off track.

20. Strategy –
• Create strategies to accomplish
the vision.
• Keep your strategies in front of
you and know where you are with
each strategy.
• So many strategic plans get put
aside and never referenced after
they are created.

21. Money –
• You need to know your numbers.
• This is one area that I was never good at.
• My business did not start taking off until I put my finger
on the pulse of money.
• You need to know what is coming in and going out.

22. Know the Numbers.
• Know what it takes to make you profitable;
• Know where you are now and how far away you are from
that profitability.

23. Staff –
• Know what is going on with
your staff if you have them.
• Know their vision and their
passion.
• And stay in touch with what is
happening on the floor.
• There is incredible
information there.

24. So, What Do You Do When the Pulse is
LOW?

25. This is perhaps the hardest question you will
ever answer.

26. YOU have to make the decision and you
need to rely on several factors.

27. First, listen to your own wisdom.
• Many times we know what we need to do and we ignore
the inner voice that is telling us.
• We get further down the road and in hindsight it is clear
and then we can even acknowledge that we know.
• Listening to yourself and your feeling and gut is
important.

28. But you also have to be a wise business
owner.
• That means that you have to take a
look at the facts in front of you.

29. You’ve been paying attention to your
business.
• You know its current state and you know its growth.

30. Evaluate: Current Status, Growth History and
Growth Potential
• What is the current status of the organization?
• Are you still investing money in it?
– Has it been 3 years?
– 5 years?
• Can you afford to continue investing?
• Does that fit into your life plan?
• Or is it self-supporting?

31. What is the growth history?
• Has the business been growing?
• Adding new clients?
• New customers?
• Is that growth consistent?
• Does the product or service remain
in demand?
• Have you evaluated the potential
growth of the product/service?
• Do you know your market?

32. If your business is struggling have you
exhausted all of your marketing strategies to
bring in new customers or repeat customers?

33. As the business owner
considering throwing in the
towel you must not leave
any stone unturned.

34. If there is a marketing
strategy that you haven’t
tried because you are
personally uncomfortable
with it, now is the time to
get comfortable.

35. For instance, if you are not tech
savvy and don’t like being on
the Internet – you have to have
an internet presence. You
cannot be in business and not
have an internet presence. You
must have a social media
presence.

36. Are there things that you can be outsourcing that
will free you up to do the sales side or
development side of the business?

37. As the owner or CEO your role is to build the
business and develop the business. This may
mean networking, connecting, landing new
clients, new investors, new products or services.
You know what business building looks like in for
your business.

38. What are your business development strategies?
Do you have the time to carry them out? If not,
what can you delegate in order to do that?

39. If you are spending your valuable time doing
non-essential tasks then you need to re-order
what you do so that you can do the essential and
fundamental task of business building or
business development.

40. Make a list each day of the essential
money focused tasks and do them first.

41. • Delegate or outsource the other tasks.
• Many business owners have discovered the magic of
outsourcing.
• Suddenly, you have the time to make more money.
• You have handed off jobs, you are paying money to
have someone else do them and you are making MORE
money!
• How sweet is that? What can you hand off? Now is the
time to figure that out.

42. But, wait, you still have the towel in your
hand and you are still unsure whether
you should hold it or throw it.
• So far you have taken a look at your business owner
characteristics of commitment, perseverance and risk
taking;

43. • You have looked at all of your marketing and sales
strategies to be sure that you are doing EVERYTHING
you can to bring in more clients and more business; and
finally you have taken a look at yourself to determine
what other things you can do to grow the business and
what you can outsource or delegate to free you up to do
that. After taking a look at all of this and listening to your
inner wise voice, it should be pretty clear what to do.
You know what to do. Hard decision. Hardest ever, but
solely yours to make.
You have evaluated the current state of the
organization and the future growth potential;

44. Whatever you decide to do it is important to do it
with style, with grace and with the utmost
professionalism.
• Do not burn bridges.
• Do not do anything to harm your reputation or that of
your staff, your vendors, your board or others.
• If you throw in the towel, make sure it is clean, that it
shines brightly and provides everyone involved the most
potential for future success possible.

45. If You Have Decided to NOT Throw In the
Towel….
AND you are ready to BUILD success….
AND Grow YOUR Business

46. Then you are ready for…….
Our Business Development Program
www.Bizology.Biz

47. • Learn HOW TO:
• Grow Your Business
• Market Your Business
• Profit From Your Business
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