New consultants often quit too early when they have real customers and a solid plan. Most underestimate how long sales cycles and delivery take. Quit only if your core assumptions were wrong or resources run out, not because growth feels slow.
When do you keep going or when do you quit? Yes, at times that's the right thing to do. Overall, I think the majority of people quit too soon. If you have a solid business plan, you're starting to get some customers, you're struggling in getting as many leads as you like, sales cycle is taking longer, you're struggling with delivery. Those are common issues. Entrepreneurs are frequently overly optimistic. We think it'll take us less time to close the deal. We think we can deliver at a faster pace. Plan for the sale to take longer and plan for the delivery to take longer. And in a way, with your customers, undercommit and overdeliver. But having said all the above, at times you have to call it quits. It could be that your initial hunches were off, your business plan was flawed, you're just running out of resources, time, and money. In the end, don't give up if you're getting traction and don't hit your head against the wall either. Failure is part of the business. Learn to fail quickly and learn from that failure.
