Should I abandon my business idea? I've spent $10,000 already but managed it badly.?

Question

I had a good web business idea (as a second income) but so far I've spent $10,000 on development and designers and I've still not reached my goal. The problem has been more mine than theirs - I didn't clearly write down what I wanted and changed my ideas as things went along. Should I bother to take a firm hold of this or just give up and move on?

I think I can fix it but I'm now so upset at the money I've wasted it hurts to carry on.

Answer 1

First off, props to you for taking blame, you don't see that much these days.

If you believe you can fix it with little additional monies needed, go for it. You've invested so much already.

Sorry I can't be of much help... just saying what I'd do if I had the energy and commitment!

=D good luck.

Answer 2

If you have money to use without getting into loans then you might as well finish this shot.

The only thing worse than knowing you spent $10,000 for a business that didn't work, is knowing that you could have spent a few thousand more and gave this thing a real shot.

But again, if you have like $20000 in the bank, then a few more thousand is ok...but if you are living off of triscuits and cheese, then see if there is a cheap way to give this business a fair shot.

Answer 3

This is all a normal part of business. There are gains and losses. Most businesses don't make any money the first year or two trying to get established. It's always an experiment. You can really go in the hole trying to figure out development/advertising, and spend money on the wrong things. I used to spend thousands and then I learned more cost effective ways. 10,000 doesn't sound excessive for start-up. I'm not sure exactly what you're needing to do, but if it's advertising word of mouth really is the best way, like networking or joining chamber of commerce. Nobody looks at advertisements these days. Things have really changed. I'd say move forward.

Answer 4

Writing specifications is an engineer's job. You learned from your mistakes.

But run the ideas past at least 3 people who you do not know, to see if they would "spend money" on your products and/or services.

Answer 5

if you think you can manage fixing it without spending that much more you should not give up.but if your done dealing with it and dont want to lose anymore money just close it down....

Answer 6

Allright, speaking from personal experience here.

Any business, be it a website or a retail business or wholesale requires some sort of an investment. Most of the time you will come up with a number in you business plan. Say 10,000, from my experience this number can be guaranteed to be bigger by at least 30%. Now we are at 13.000. (That is usually because of the costs you did not aticipate or because it took longer than planned or both). Then things can go wrong (and where they can, they usually do) and that is going to cost you more.

Conclusion: You did not lose the money, you simply did not calculate the money you need to start it up correctly.

Key question to answer: Do you believe in your idea and do you think it is going to bring steady income once it is finished? (Doesnt need to be huge income, I would say 10-20% of the cost to start it up per year is good income.)

If the answer is yet, go ahead and continue. I've found that most business fail due to the fact that people give up easily.

My boss once told me that in order to be successful at any business you have to keep at it for at least 3 years, then you will be successful. If you give up earlier than that, you were not meant to be a successful businessman to begin with. Persistance and believe in your idea is what matters most. Dont listen to people who say that you cant do it, just because they cant. (And the guy who told me this started with 5,000 USD in 1997 and a kilogram of Jewelry for that money. Now he has 5 Jewelry stores and 3 wholesale companies) at If after three years it doesnt work, then you might start thinking about moving on.

To be honest you dont need this website to know what you want. Just decide for yourself if you are ready to bang at it for at least 3 years, if yes - do it and dont stop.

Answer 7

Depends on how much you love the business.  You have to truly love what you do.  

Consider these:

Did you ruin the business name bad enough that people would not do business w/ you?

Do you have the money to get it right?

Do you have the patience to get it right?

Are you ready to listen to the advice of others- even when you don't like it?

If you make a mistake can you emotionally and financially take the hit?

Does your significant other support your decision?

This is not meant to sound cruel, but I sincerely think you should answer these questions.  And I agree that is was really big of you to admit your mistakes.

Answer 8

First, don't think of it as money wasted.

Many businesses invest money in projects and then find, as the projects go on, that they need to make changes which result in cost overages.

The question now is:  Can you now clearly define what you want to have?

Is it possible for you to go live with what you have and then phase in improvements...another common practice.

Do you have a business plan?  What is your anticipated net income over the first year?  The second?  This should help in getting you to a decision about the wisdom of investing more money.

If you do proceed, try giving the developers/designers a broad conceptual idea of what you want and let them come back and tell you what they will do and what you will have after they are done.  Hammer out details by finding and resolving differences before the first line of code is written.

And if you go forward, I guarantee, there will be other times when implementing ideas cost more than you anticipated.