3 things to do if a Business is not working out as expected

As an entrepreneur, running a business successfully for the first few years is one of the most challenging time of any business because:
Firstly, you are more or less running two tedious tasks alone: you're working as the manager as well as an employee.

If you ask successful entrepreneurs why they run a business in the first place. Most will tell you it is as a result of their zeal to create value for people and stop working for someone else. Then does it looks like the opposite after getting into it?

Secondly, you've probably not gotten any experience on that field, or you've not yet acquired the skills to successfully run a business.
But the above points shouldn't be a setback if you really know what you're doing. Why? The best time to start is now. Just do it!
In this article, I'll share with you three things than can get you out of that limitation that's holding you back from getting the result you want out of your business.

I have a simple but tricky question for you. Make sure you think carefully about it before you answer.
John Paul CEO (small starterAfrica) asked this question in one of his mails I received.
Here is it...
What is the best way to fetch water with a leaking bucket?

When I ask entrepreneurs this question, I typically get two types of answers.

(1) Stop fetching water and fix the leak first.

Hey reader, do you know an average CEO reads  60 books per year? An estimate of about 4-5 books per months. These are the leaders, the game changers, the ones that end up shaking the ground, rebuilding industries, providing jobs, and inventing some of our most beloved everyday products.
According to INC, an average person reads literally two or three books, for the entire year. And yet, the average CEO is reading four or five books per month. That's a drastic difference.
If they're reading that much, then clearly there is still some value in picking up a book.
There are plenty of people just like each of us that have become multimillionaires.
Here is my point, 
You have to change away from negative thoughts to positive thoughts and become successful by self-improvement through the reading of books written by other successful CEOs.
The second answer I get is:

(2) Fetch the water faster than it can leak from the bucket

I believe no one wants to risk capital into an unknown investment.
Yes, diversification.
Diversification is a risk management strategy that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio. The basics of diversification is that it smooths out unsystematic risk events in a portfolio, so the positive performance of some investments neutralizes the negative performance of others.
So doing this, you determine what percentages of your profit you reinvest into that business.

The idea here is that you support your main investment from the larger share of the profit gotten from the leaking bucket.
However, you need to understand that this requires a level of financial literacy. 

If you want to know what this term means or want to inrease your financial IQ, I'll recommend that you read books written by Robert Kiyosaki, author of the best selling personal finance book of all time, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
There is a third answer. But I don't get it often.

(3) That answer is to Change the bucket.

Sometimes, a leak is not worth the effort and struggle. 
Sometimes, we are too focused on fixing the leak or fetching water that we don't realize how much money, time, stress and frustration we can save by just changing the bucket. This is exactly what many of us do in our businesses.

Many entrepreneurs are working with a leaking bucket in their business. They think if they work faster and harder, they will one day find success.
Some think all they need is a new tool or ground breaking strategy to turn the business around. Some need more funding and just need to raise more capital to catapult the business to success.
But the biggest problem with a leaking bucket  is the amount of wasted time, effort, and money that it costs you.

Maybe what you need is to Reset and Restart. Sometimes what you need is to change the bucket.
There comes a time when all the loss, pains, and suffering no longer worth it. There comes a time when you need to refresh and start afresh.
Yes! There comes a time when you need to make the hard and emotional decision to shut down that business

At this point, you need to be careful and be able to analyze what brought you into the business in the first place.
I hope this helps.
Make sure you share with someone who needs it.