When to call it quits???

[kaydubllc]

I am part owner of an online t-shirt business, ReallyFunnyShirts.com . We have had the site up since around March and after the initial friends and family buying, haven't had much success. The problem is we really don't have the time to invest in order to get the name out there.

We are losing money every month and I am having trouble marketing the company given that I have very little time. We really can't afford to sink much more money into it but I don't really want to give up just yet. I think we have some great stuff already and a lot of great ideas but that we chose a very tought market to try to sell in given the lack of time we are able to commit.

So the question is, when do you know it is time to hang it up and liquidate what you can in order to try to get out from under it all??

[Creadiv]

When you start a company that you aren't willing to put the necessary amount of time into it to make it into something profitable you have already made your mistake. You can operate the company as best as you can and try to reach break even point or close it now and minimize your loss.

[innermountain]

You might consider finding someone who has promise but isn't very experienced yet. Mentor them by giving them this project and tell them when it's in the black, you'll split the profits with them. Then you can leverage the time you do have and help someone out in the process.

[achievedisplay]

I think innermountain has a good idea. Also, I'm not saying it isn't possible but I think it is extremely difficult to compete against tshirthell, woot, and cafepress. If I didn't have the time - I would probably try to sell the domain to the highest bidder.

Joe

[907Group]

I would make a nice sales writeup, post on sitepoint. Looks like you are not having fun with this anymore, then time to move on to different ventures.

[crackah]

Ok, site looks nice. but i think the issue is thats its like so many other funny t-shirt sites out there.

[Kemb]

I think you done this as a little project and had no intentions of making serious cash, There is a very small gap in the market for t-shirts like this and what market there is out there has already been taken. I don't think your going to make much money out of this because our going to be spending more on advertising and generating traffic than you are making sales.

Some times you need to be brutal and discard things and move on if your not getting the results your vision set out for.

Good luck in the future.

Danny

[dreamer4ever]

Hey I would offer equity to shirt designers in exchange for some marketing efforts and funny designs. You can find a lot of successfu designers that are entrepreneurs in their own right at Threadless.com. Good luck with everything

[Creadiv]

Everybody is talking about how there is too much competition in this market to be successful, but to me it seems that he has admittedly said that I don't have the time. Forget the competition and ask yourself why you would start a business, and spend what has to eventually amount to alot of money if you don't have the time to run it? It isn't competition that is keeping him down it is lack of time.

You can't take time to mentor someone if you don't have time to run the business. It doesn't matter if there isn't any competition in the market if you don't have time to run your business. Too me it just doesn't make sense.

Sorry for the rant, but I just don't get it.

[zoobie]

Yes, the competition is tough. And you said you 'don't have time to invest'? What's the point of being in this business anyway?

The decision is still yours.

[richkid]

I would sell it on Sitepoint. You have a great domain and you should get some money for it.

[kaydubllc]

When we started the company, time wasn't an issue. However, I just started a new job and being that I was doing most of the up front work with marketing and everything, it has just kind of fallen in the cracks. I wish I had the hours in the day to do it because I enjoy it, it is just a hard market and takes a LOT of time.

We did everything right. We have a great product and a great site just picked one hell of a market. Oh, well. You live and you learn.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

[Creadiv]

I would sell it on Sitepoint. You have a great domain and you should get some money for it.

This is really good advice. Sitepoint is huge and would be a good place to list the domain.

I am sorry if I have sounded like a jerk before, but I sometimes have strong opinions about things.

[Corey Kossack]

First off, you haven't been at it that long. It takes a serious amount of time to launch a business successfully. But, what you have so far looks great. I have a personal friend who is aspiring to do EXACTLY what you are doing (I know there are many others)... If you don't have the time or don't want to put in the time, find someone who can put in time for you, and share the wealth. After all, nothing of nothing is nothing right?

If you are open to it, I would be happy to introduce you to my two friends who are starting their venture with some designers to do funny shirts to sell online. They are young (23 years old), but very sharp.

I can introduce you on ClubENetwork.com (online social network for entrepreneurs) to Tom Wright, who is taking the lead on the project. Contact me if you would like me to do so. And good luck, I think what you've done so far is great!

Corey Kossack

[vishenda]

nice funny ^___^