Let It Go, Let It Go, NO, SERIOUSLY - Let It Go!

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.

There is a great Freakonomics podcast on this topic too.  

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!