FR3 Minutes #5 | Three Steps When To Just Give Up On An Idea in 3 Minutes
There are 3 steps you must know to stop your new project/service/product or business.
Step 1 – Separate your new service or business from people. If you or someone in your team is emotionally invested in the new product/service/business then they may keep pumping fresh blood into a corpse that should have been laid to rest just so they keep or justify their job. As the leader communication at this point is critical – the success or failure of the project will not impact your role.
Step 2 – Let your team raise red flags. If your team fear that speaking ill of your idea or new service will irk you, they will keep quiet and you will have no idea of the true position of the business or service. It is critical to encourage honesty from your team rather than keeping bad news under wraps.
Step 3 – Define a finish line. Just prior to launching we must set objective assessments. We often get emotionally tied it but we must remain pragmatic and make a business decision. You need clear numbers to determine what success looks like? What is your budget and what are your ROI expectations?
Why am I speaking about this today?
I have spoken to several fitness business owners this week who have asked me at what point do I stop trying to make my personal training department work.
In many fitness businesses, we roll out:
- Personal training
- Small group training
- Nutritional services
- Massage
- Life coaching
- Merchandise
And other services to build secondary income but they simply do not provide a profit. They are supposed to be profit centres but in fact cost the business.
As the business leader, you have to have discipline in your objective evaluation of your new service/product or in deed business if you want to be successful. Being a leader can be tough, you cannot be emotional you have to be objective.
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.