6个迹象表明你该结束创业了

“透视企业家”是《财富》杂志一个在线互动社区，美国最睿智、最有影响力的一些创业大咖会在这里及时回答一些与创业和职业有关的问题。今天的问题是：“如何知道何时应该放弃你的创业点子？”回答者的是冯德布鲁曼搜索集团创始人兼CEO威廉•冯德布鲁曼。

创业之难，难于上青天？也许是这样。从总数上看，90%的创业最后都会以失败告终。

出现这种局面的原因之一是，创业者很难知道何时应该放弃自己的创业点子，因为警报通常不会伴随着危险一起来临。

在很多客户身上，我发现了一些比较普遍的特质，它们或许也是导致许多人创业失败的原因。这些客户都是一些对自身信仰坚定不移的创业者。他们生来就和常人不同，敢于打破规则，让现实向他们的信念低头，勇于超越自我。他们就是那种撞了九次南墙都不回头，第十次迎着南墙撞上去的时候还会说“这次肯定会不一样”的人。

下面列出的这6种情形，如果你已经同时经历了3个以上，那么，你或许就该选择放弃了。

1、你的产品没有市场需求

现实总是在不断变化，同样，市场也在不断变化当中。昨天还大受欢迎的东西，说不定今天就不再受欢迎，更不用说明天了。如果过去20年里你经常逛商场的话，你就会明白这句话是正确的。企业家在改变现实的同时，也在改变市场。你的产品也是一样，它要么改变市场，要么就得满足市场的需求。

2、创业破坏了你的家庭生活

并非所有创业者都是每天能花20多个小时开拓事业的单身汉。有些最优秀的创业者也是有家庭的，而家庭就是他们奋斗的动机。别忘了，生活不止是为了活着。要想为你的家庭创造高品质的生活，除了努力工作，你还要抽时间陪伴他们。

成功的创业者不仅追求事业成功，也追求个人成功；他们不仅要把时间和金钱投资到事业上，也要投资到他们的家庭上。所以，如果你的家庭已经到了崩溃的边缘，或许你就应该考虑放弃创业了。

3、其他人也在做，而且做得更好

通常，创业失败的重要原因之一就是做出的产品或服务没有市场。但与此相反，仅仅局限于满足现有需求，也是败因。随便在手机上登陆一个应用商店，你会发现，任何一个热门应用都有它的山寨版。什么热门抄什么，这当然是很容易的——比如，已经玩过《愤怒的小鸟》的人也会想玩玩《家禽伙伴》（Poultry Pal）。这一招在短期可能行得通，但它最终是很难成为一门长久生意的。

4、追求创新却远离了市场需求

创业者喜欢追逐新概念或新商业模式，但通常来说，一些最优秀的初创公司其实只是重写了现有产业的运行方式，提供了一种更好的替代选择。比如说，经常有人抱怨打车难，而这个问题被Uber和Lyft解决了。同理，今天的智能手机正是厂商整合了一系列单一用途手持设备的结果。

尽管一种全新的产品会催生一种前所未有的需求，但如果你的业务离市场太远，那就依然难免会失败。从这角度来说，花钱购买本地私人交通服务的需求，并非Uber首创，只不过它对这个需求迎合得更好，最终成为市场颠覆者。

5、风险已经超过了回报

一家公司要想盈利的话，其成功的回报必须大于或等于其面临的风险。赛百味餐厅之所以在全球开了一百多万家店，就是因为它的运营成本不高，而且已经在市场上打出了品牌知名度。如果潜在成本高于潜在收益，那就放弃吧。

6、不再相信创业时的理由

每一个成功的创业公司背后，都有一位真心相信公司创业理念的创始人。正是这种信念，帮助创业者挺过了最艰难的日子。可以说，成功的创业者都是坚忍不拔的人。但是，自尊心有时会蒙蔽人的双眼，会让你看不到自己做这件事的理由已经不存在了。

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当你的公司真的出了问题，上面这6个警示迹象往往不会单独显露，而是会同时冒出来。这就像是“打地鼠”游戏一样，问题到处冒头，有时它会伤害你的家庭，有时它的成功几率会显得十分黯淡。创业者要经常保持警惕，如果你意识到已经有太多问题同时出现了，那么，选择暂时放弃或许就是最明智的选择。

须知，暂时的放弃并不意味着永久抛弃，而是在更多可能性上选择出路。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

The Entrepreneur Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “How do you know it’s time to drop your startup idea?” is written by William Vanderbloemen, founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group.

Knowing when it’s time to give up on a startup business doesn’t always come with a warning sign. About 90% of all startups fail, and Dallas-based legal firm Allmand Law mapped an infographic that uncovers possible reasons for failures of well-known startups such as MySpace and Airtime, including growing competition and programming bugs.

Perhaps the failures can also be attributed to the unique characteristics I’ve seen common amongstmy clients, who are both entrepreneurs and church planters. They were born to be different, break the rules, and bend reality to their will. They push boundaries. They are the ones who have the ability to step on a rake nine times in a row, get hit in the face every time, and look at that 10th rake and say, “This time will be different.”

If you ever simultaneously experience three of the below factors, you’ll know it’s time to throw in the proverbial startup towel:

When market research shows there is no need for your product

Reality changes, and with it so does the market. What is sought after yesterday is different than today, and will definitely be tomorrow. If you’ve walked inside of a mall in the past 20 years, you know this to be true. Just as entrepreneurs change reality, they change the market. Your product either needs to do just that, or satisfy what the market demands.

When it breaks your family

Not all entrepreneurs are single and dedicate 20 hours per day to their business. Some of the best entrepreneurs have families, and those families become their motivation for succeeding. Do not forget to make a life while you are making a living. Creating a better life for your family includes hard work and quality time with them. Successful entrepreneurs who want long-term business and personal success invest time and money not only into their startup, but also into their family. So if your family is at a breaking point, it might be time to give it up.

When you realize there are others already doing it, but better

The opposite of an unneeded product or service is satisfaction with its current existence. If you log in to any app store on your phone, you will find knockoffs to every popular app out there. They’re easy ways to ride on the coattails of something popular—like getting people who already play Angry Birds to want Poultry Pal. This might work in the short term, but it’ll be an uphill battle in the long term.

When it’s a brand new business model that has never even been tried

Uber did not create the need for people to pay for local, private transportation. It disrupted the market by doing it better. Often, the best startups are simply re-workings of already existing industries, creating better alternatives. Complaints about the taxi-riding experience were solved with Uber and Lyft. Similarly, the smartphone of today exists because it consolidated a variety of devices that had all at one point been single-purpose, handheld devices. While a brand new model may create a need that didn’t exist before, thereby altering reality, businesses that are too far removed from the market will fail.

When risk outweighs reward

If a business is to be profitable, the outcome of success must weigh equal to or greater than the risk. The reason you see a million Subway restaurants is because they are inexpensive franchises that aren’t costly to maintain and already have brand awareness in the market. If it costs more to bring the product or service to market than the potential it can bring, move on.

When you find you no longer believe in the cause or root reason for the business

Pride can get you wrapped so far into the endeavor that your reason behind doing it no longer exists. Successful entrepreneurs are gritty folks, but their grit isn’t just a personality trait. You can draw a direct line from successful startups to a founder who truly believed in the reason for the company. That’s what sees founders through the dark times.

There are no single warning signs or stop signs to your business. Several of them come up at once or converge. It’s a game of Whack-A-Mole. Startups face challenges, and growth is hard. Sometimes it will hurt your family, and sometimes it will simply seem bleak. But when you constantly stay on alert, and realize that too many issues converge, be wise, and know that it’s time to give up and get out.