Knowing When to Stop a Failing Business

I started my first business in 2010. IQ4News was a collaborative platform for news on Africa – at least that was the original vision.

My time at IQ4News slowly grounded to a halt in spite of my dedication. I suddenly woke up to the hard truth that I had gone off track after forgetting my unique selling point (aka USP). Simply put, IQ4News became yet another news website. The ruthless nudge from the real world happened when a particular organization asked me the “why should I advertise on your platform and not on all the other news websites with far more traffic?” question …and I could not answer.

More concerning to me was the lack of opportunities for me to truly innovate. While the business was profitable, it was not profitable to the point that I could innovate, and so it meant doing the same routine stuff day in day out!

Strategic Perseverance

This tight situation did not only teach me something called strategic perseverance, it also made me embrace the not so easy process of going back to the drawing board. I started by reviewing our website and social media analytics over the years. Now, I have always done this, I reviewed analytics data daily – what was different this time was that I took myself and my vision out of it. The result was that for the first time, I was able to review the data with the perspective of: ‘what does our audience want’!

It is very common for business owners to be so focused on pushing their dream, that they miss the opportunity to really develop the solution to a need – the product/market fit as Marc Andreessen put it. Another danger of doing this that without you, your business may not stay afloat.

Self discovery

In addition to this awakening, I sought the opinion of the people who mattered to me and who would not hesitate to tell me the bitter truth. This was not a new thing as I had this habit of doing a review every year and using such feedback to plan for the New Year.

It was around October 2015 that I called my brother who bluntly told me IQ4News was history. I started to do my research and I found myself drawn towards gender-focused communities. A thorough skill audit also revealed my untapped event conceptualisation and delivery skills. A competitor analysis helped me check my idea against what other people were doing. I also welcomed the need to juggle different balls based on my interest in gender, digital platforms, media, communities and events. I registered a URL immediately, set up a Facebook group, and African Women in the Media was born.

Nugget: Self-audit regularly, you’ll be surprised what you’ll discover about yourself!