Do you give up or press on?

RATHER THAN CALL IT A DAY, YOU COULD ADOPT AND ADAPT Having a ‘to the bitter end’ attitude can blind us to obvious mistakes.

There is a certain stubbornness that’s required to be a successful entrepreneur that causes one not to throw in the towel, no matter how bruising the conditions get. Motivational books tell us never to give up, to press on because success is just around the corner. They even say not giving up is one of the prerequisites of success. I do agree because if you want to succeed in anything, be it a career, relationship or a business venture, you cannot give up.

But when does stubbornness to succeed become an obsession that clouds one’s judgment? Where do we draw the line between insanely pursuing an unrealistic dream from a genuine chance at success? And therein lays one of the most difficult questions every individual is faced with at some stage of their lives: when to give up and when to press on? Quite frankly there is no definitive answer to that question; different goals, circumstances and most of all different levels of desire cause some to give up and others to press on.

Wisdom therefore is required, because you cannot foolishly chase a fantasy using quotes from motivational speakers that tell you that success is just around the corner. But I dare not tell anyone to give up on their dream no matter how unrealistic. Instead I would rather advice you to pivot.

The concept of pivoting can be likened to the game of basketball which allows a player to shift one leg in which ever direction whilst the other is firmly rooted on the ground. In a business context, it suggests that instead of giving up, an entrepreneur should tweak a thing or two to adjust. The idea is not to do a 180% turn, but rather to slightly go in a different direction while still sticking to the overall vision. It requires one to adopt and adapt to his/her situation and pivot accordingly.

“Adopt and adapt” is one of the most powerful tools an entrepreneur can possess. It is the ability to quickly identify what is not working and immediately adjust in order to increase the probability of success. The problem with having a staunch “don’t give up” attitude is that it blinds us from obvious mistakes which, if identified early, can be rectified without causing irreparable damage.

You must study your business to determine where to pivot; maybe it’s changing your customers or adding a supporting service to your offering. Sometimes it could be in changing your product offering all together. Look at Groupon: the company started as something else but pivoted after adopting and adapting to become what it is today.