“I was rejected by four different banks before I got approved for my business loan,†she says. “But I never gave up. I kept shopping my business plan around until I succeeded.â€
Yet, by December 2008, after months of worrying about how to make payroll and pay rent and loan payments, “I made the painstaking decision to close our doors,†Grannum-Skinner says. During that last year, she had tried unsuccessfully to find an investment partner and to get another business loan, but after talking with family members and other franchisees, “I realized it would be more detrimental to hold on to a failing business than to give it up.â€
Despite the mantras of “Never give up†and “Keep fighting†that many achievers subscribe to, hundreds of thousands of Americans shut down businesses, end relationships, or close the doors on some type of dream each year. In 2008, an estimated 595,600 small businesses were shuttered, according to the SBA. More than 1.4 million Americans stopped battling financial pressure by filing for bankruptcy last year. And in 2008, 3.5 out of every 1,000 people ended their marriages. Did all these people lack faith and courage to follow through? No.
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