Knowing when to throw in the towel is sometimes the secret to success

It seems to me, and always has, that there is a fundamental paradox in business (more specifically entrepreneurship) that no-one ever talks about. Almost without fail, people will tell you that hard work and perseverance are absolutely critical qualities for success. I agree, but I also think this is misleading because it views a very fluid and dynamic entity (your business' success) in an absolute light. I think it would be more accurate to say without hard work and perseverance you will almost certainly fail.

Many years ago I set up my own business. I had already spent a few years working in, and learning a bit about an industry, so I felt I had a good skills and services to offer. Full of hope and determination I struck out on my own and spent the next few years busting a gut trying to get this business off the ground. I didn't want to concede defeat because I believed that offering a competent service at competitive prices must be good enough provided I stuck with it. I stuck with it, and stuck with it...

The problem, I realized eventually, had nothing to do with what I was offering. I had fallen foul of the old addage "it's not what you know, it's who you know". I knew I could do a better job than industry standards dictated - I had skill and experience in doing just that. But because of the nature of the business I couldn't get companies overseas to go out on a limb and trust someone they didn't know with projects worth a few hundred grand.

This leads me to the second part of the paradox I mentioned at the start. Consider this; if we are supposed to work hard and persevere in order to succeed then why, in almost every case you look at, do succesful people invariably say they failed several times before finally finding something that worked. They're effectively saying that they didn't persevere at the first few things they tried. Who knows, perhaps if they had perservered they would have succeeded on an earlier project. But perhaps not...

I think what's important is to realize that the hard work and perseverance applies to your attitude to work, and not to an individual business or enterprise. What most succesful people will tell you is that they took lessons from their previous failures and applied new found knowledge and skills to make the next attempt that much better, until eventually they broke through.

If you are struggling to get a business off the ground right now, I can't tell you whether you should put that puppy down and move on or not. Maybe the big break is around the corner, maybe it will never come. What I do want to tell you is this:

It's wishy-washy, I know - but if there was an absolute for success... well, that would be too easy and it wouldn't be success, would it?