When an idea doesn't pan out

Being a business owner -- being a successful one -- sometimes means taking chances. The tight RL economy, in addition to various changes Linden Lab has recently made which make doing business in SL more challenging, are weighing on many SL merchants these days.

Although I don't feel I'm in competition with my fellow Victorian and Western merchants, right now many businesses are looking at smaller revenue streams, some more than others.

It's said that the biggest failing of most business owners is that they are afraid of change. But change is necessary in times like these -- and acting on new ideas could make the difference in whether your business is still open in six months.

So an idea comes to you that seems like a smart one, a logical move, until you sit back after implementing it and you watch it wither on the vine.

How long does it take before you should declare it a success or failure? Is this dip in sales and/or traffic a blip on the screen, or the sign of a steady decline?

I've had several of these ideas lately that, for no discernible reason, are not performing as I expected. I invested some capital to see them through to completion, only to see a rather dismal response.

That's scary when you have come to rely on the income you're making in SL to help you through tight finances in real life. But I should feel lucky that I even have this second source of income right now, because there don't seem to be any second sources of income to be had in RL at the moment.

For now, all I can do is keep moving ahead, keep trying new things, and hope for the best.