Do I dump an old idea that failed, or try it again?

Dear Aunty B,

I am at my wit’s end, and since one of my wishes for this new year is to have a solution for this now “going three years old” issue I am hoping Aunty B can give me sound advice.

In 2006 I purchased an “online business franchise” consisting of servers and software, which if properly run should technically be profitable. However since I bought it without proper planning, I was too naive to think that leaving the franchise to my employees without monitoring them would be anything but alright. Also there was a lack of budget to run the franchise and to hire good staff.

For some reason I have bad luck at getting good staff – it’s always either staff who are good at talking but no action and result, or the wrong type of staff who end up running away with the company’s money.

In 2007 and 2008 there were no people taking care of the business, and the servers and software were just in storage depreciating in value.

This year there is someone who is interested in purchasing the servers alone, for less than half the price since the software, which cost three times what the servers did, are practically worth zero now, being so outdated.

I am in a dilemma. Should I just accept the fact that sometimes business must have losses and just sell for 10% of what everything was originally worth? Should I concentrate on new business opportunities, or prepare the right business plan and pursue the original idea again using the servers (but paying extra updated software)?

What should I do? Help! And how do I get good staff?

Mobi,
Melbourne

Dear Mobi,

Let me get this straight. You bought a franchise with no business plan, no money to run it, and you then hired duds and thieves who stole the company’s money? That right? You then failed to get a CEO fairy in to fix the joint up, so you dumped all the equipment in storage?

And now, after running the business in an appalling fashion, you are asking me whether to dust off the original business plan when you had no idea whether it was going to work in the first place because you bought the franchise without proper planning?

Wow!! Here is what you must do. Sell and take the loss. Then either go and get a job because you know very little about running a business or go and do a basic business course because you don’t understand the fundamentals of business.

There is absolutely no use concentrating on new business opportunities if you take the same sort of distracted approach!

Good luck,

Your Aunty B.