Five entrepreneurs on how to stop yourself from giving in — and when you should walk away

If you’ve had an idea that’s the first of its kind, chances are you’ve also hit a roadblock so fundamental it’s almost knocked your project our entirely.

Whether you’re developing a new concept or trying to monetise your idea for the first time, there’s no shortage of ways that things can fall apart until all might seem lost.

But should you give up, or stick with it? These five entrepreneurs weigh in on when you should give things one more shot, when you should walk away, and how to look past failure to just keep going.

Marita Cheng | Founder, aubot, Robogals

On the power of giving it one last try 
As told to Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Mobile-ising Women event in August 2017:

“I went to London to study mechanical engineering at Imperial College. I thought, ‘it would be so cool if  Robogals was in the UK — then we could be global’. But as soon as I arrived it was such a big place, I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t know where to begin.

“After three months there I realised there was nothing like Robogals in the UK, and there were 15 girls out of 150 in my mechanical engineering class … I thought, if I want to make a difference to young girls here, well I have to be the one to do it.

“Nobody showed up to the first Robogals meeting in London, so after about half an hour I realised this, and I started to cry. Nobody showed up at the second meeting, so after about 15 minutes I started to cry. Read more

Emma Koehn - Smart Company - 1 Sep 2017