The Pain and Relief of Closing It Down
A 4-Way Test to see if it’s time to exit.
Sometimes even things, once good, come to an end. And that actually is the best thing in my case, but it still hurts. July 5, 2021, ended the run of my non-profit, Breast Cancer MyStory, launched in 2010. Chronicling my personal journey and sharing knowledge online with tens of thousands over the past decade of treatments and recovery helped me and was a 24/7 “soft space to land online when given the hard diagnosis of breast cancer” for others.
Back in 2010, only a “few” online comprehensive resources for breast cancer shared information, current research, and humanized the disease through a first-person experience. Today, there is such a vast sea of online resources (a fantastic thing) that my part-time passion became lost in cyberspace. The choices facing me included: continue posting to an ever-dwindling audience, pay to advertise and optimize the website, join forces with another non-profit, or offload the best content and pull the plug.
I had to sit with the decision for a bit. Because Breast Cancer MyStory was also a part of me.
The good thing about the pandemic is that it created time and space for deep personal and professional reflection. When you take the time to unplug and sit quietly for a bit without any distractions, realities come into focus. My reality has been clear for the past few years (see analytics graphic below), but I wasn’t ready to pull out the mirror and look. The reality upon reflection is that I was unwilling to do the full-time work to keep it current and raise funds to optimize the site. So there it is — sounds simple. But it wasn’t.
As part of discernment, my mind wandered and reflected on the Rotary Club Four-Way Test recited before each weekly meeting: 1. Is it the TRUTH? 2. Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? 4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? I always admired Rotarians for having solid principles to guide their personal and professional relationships. Those ideals led me to develop a Four-Way Exit Test to help me (and other ventures) when faced with a decision about “it.” Specifically, this exit test is about asking yourself some critical questions that could trigger the next steps.
4-Way Venture Exit Test: 1. Is it still INNOVATIVE? 2. Has it gained MARKET SHARE? 3. Am I still PASSIONATE about it? 4. Does it still serve your MISSION?
If you answered “no” to all four, the answer is obviously, “yes” to pulling the plug. If your answer is “yes” to the first two but “no” to #3 and or #4, think about selling (or collaborating or contributing if a SEV) to a larger organization or getting hired by them and bring along your content, knowledge, and audience.
As I am a big fan of founders (and ventures) knowing when to pull the plug or exit, it’s more of a challenge when it’s your own plug that needs pulling. I’ve exited or yanked the cord a few times in my entrepreneurial career, and each time is no easier than the last.
Thoughts of: What if….and what could I have done differently? And more are normal when the wound is fresh. What did I learn? and How will I grow from this? Are questions that help the scab heal in the weeks and months ahead. Yes, pulling the plug is painful.
Every venture is an opportunity to learn and to grow. We become wiser, even more so after we close it down. I have witnessed ventures keeping their doors open too long, struggling when the signs were clear to me but not to the founder/s. Outsiders can see the signs in others more easily and help coach them (if they are willing to be coached) to know when to scale, pivot, or close down. But looking in the mirror (or, in my case, at the analytics) is harder. Much harder.
So how do you know when it’s time to shut down? For some ventures, it’s when your number of customers declines and the bills are piling up higher than your revenue. For others, it is “time” when your idea has run its course and the competition is launching better versions that you can’t (or don’t want to) keep up with. One of my board members reminded me, “For everything, there is a season,” which helped me realize that my season has indeed come to a close.
Yes, it’s OK to be sad for a bit, reflect, and feel the loss, but don’t stew on it. In this case, I’m talking to myself, and I’ll try to take my own advice. And soon, I’ll catch my breath, take notes, grow from it, and see if I can contribute to others’ work in the field or built something better the next time. Closing down Breast Cancer MyStory does open up opportunities for me to help others and serve as a subject matter expert in new ways moving forward.
With the decision now made and Form NFP 112.20 Articles of Dissolution filed the Secretary of State, I moved on to reconciling outstanding liabilities and finally distributing the remaining assets to the American Cancer Society, (per our bylaws) zeroing out the account. I submitted one final tax return, 990 (checking the box that states “Final return/terminated”), so have now completed the 501 (c ) 3 closedown.
My brilliant breast surgeon Nancy Taft, a founding board member for Breast Cancer MyStory, agreed with the decision to close. She echoed that “it” is a full-time commitment with “over 21,000 articles printed on breast cancer and related topics last year.” She commented, “You definitely were a pioneer and got the ball rolling.” Indeed, her comments helped me realize that I’m just passing the ball down the field to the next set of receivers who will keep running the distance. Or maybe those still in the game will invent a new ball, which would be even better.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — This story was originally published to my Medium account on July 6, 2021. Final edits were made on March 4, 2022, reflecting the final act of closure, filing my 990 to terminate the non-profit (sigh).
