It was November 27, 2013 and my life would be forever changed. No this was not a job promotion, spiritual awakening, or the birth of one of my 19 kids. It was the date that Disney released
Frozen upon the world! What’s
Frozen you say? Oh that’s right, I don’t have to explain it, because even if you live in
Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland (yes, that’s a place) you know what I am referring to.
My wife took the girls to see it twice in the theater and they were hooked. Since then we’ve had a release party for the
Frozen DVD, purchased
Frozen dolls, the
Frozen castle,
Frozen costumes,
Frozen stuffed animals,
Frozen music downloads that are still played in the van, had a
Frozen birthday party, been to
Frozen on Ice, etc.
As
they say in
Frozen, it may be time to
“Let It Go” and move on to the next
Disney princess. Or action figure. Or anything else.
As for
entrepreneurs, there are also some things they need to consider “Letting Go.”
Many
times entrepreneurs get caught into the sunk cost fallacy. In economics, a sunk cost is any past
cost that has already been paid and cannot be recovered. This will make you hang on to something
longer than you should, because you have already invested time, money, or
effort into something.
For
example, I had a client that was spending hundreds of dollars each month on Yellow
Page ads. They had been doing it so
long, they were hesitant to quit that marketing effort, because of the
thousands of dollars already invested.
Once we were able to transition them to more of an online presence, they
saved money on advertising and their revenue jumped over 20%!
Other
examples of sunk costs you may be hanging on to:
· That sales person that has been with you since
you started the business, but they don’t really sell anymore. In fact, you’re not sure what they do.
· That networking group that you have been going
to for the last five years, but hasn’t brought you business in the last 3 years.
· That CRM software you have paid big money
for, but never really used.
· That bank you have always used, but that hasn’t really
been open to giving you a line of credit.
· That customer that has been steady, but has also
been a pain in the neck.
Oh,
and if you refuse to "Let It Go", the TV show Once Upon a Time is using Frozen
for their theme this year. Oh the joy!
