At some point, most e-commerce business owners face the pain of answering the question 'Should I continue on, or should I throw in the towel?'

The decision is usually either a rational or an emotional one, but both can be valid. Such rational decisions normally have to do with money. Emotional decisions tend to involve matters of the heart. Here are some real-life examples that illustrate the thinking process involved in making this tough decision.

The Rational Decision — When It's About Money
A $15M company had three primary business units. One division marketed die-cast collectibles via catalogs and an online store. The average margin on those collectibles had fallen over the years from 50 percent all the way down to 30 percent as more and more of the product was being manufactured overseas and sold through discount mass merchants. The trend suggested margins would drop even lower. Within a year or so, the margins were predicted to fall to about 20 percent.

The president of the company made the decision to sell off remaining inventory, and get out. The question he had to answer for himself was, "How much money do I want this company to make?" The collectibles business unit could not sustain the margin levels he wanted, resulting in a rational decision to quit that particular business.

There are many who would love a crack at 30 percent margins, if even for a short period of time. There was even dissent among the division's managers. They knew there was still a bit of life in the business. But the numbers told the president a story in which he was not interested. He had a plan, and the plan called for certain results. He could not hit his fiscal year numbers with a division whose margins were on a downward spiral.

The president of the company made a rational decision based on cold, hard facts: numbers. Numbers do not lie. They will tell you all you need to know.

The Emotional Decision — Listening to Your Heart
A co-owner of a regional wholesale food and produce operation started a side venture: home delivery of the foods (fruits, vegetables, meats, frozen foods) his wholesale company sold to institutions, restaurants and schools. He planned to buy product at wholesale from the first business, break it down into smaller, household-friendly portions, mark it up a bit, and deliver it the same or next day to consumers.

There was a lot of work done for this side venture — logo creation, graphics, stationery design, Web site design and construction. A van was purchased on which the graphics were applied. Custom shirts and hats for delivery personnel were ordered — though, initially, the owner was the only driver in order to help keep his up-front investment to a minimum.

The marketing plan called for the concentration of advertising dollars in a few select zip codes and building out from there. Traditional media — newspaper and direct mail — was to be used to drive prospects to the Web site where orders could be placed.

Though home delivery of foods had been tried in many areas with varying degrees of success (and failure), this company had something great going for it. It could make consumers an offer they couldn't refuse — unbelievably low prices.

Supermarkets couldn't touch his low prices, which were due to much, much lower overhead. In some instances, he was buying product for less than what supermarkets paid!

The plan was implemented; orders were beginning to roll in, customers were happy. Three weeks later, the business was promptly shut down.

The owner realized he didn't want to be the one to answer customer questions over the phone, break down product from cases to smaller sizes, load the van, and make deliveries. His heart simply wasn't in the manual labor end of things. So, as unbelievable as it seems, he quickly got out.

The owner listened to his heart.

How Much Money and Do You Really Want it Badly Enough?
In both of these true examples, the companies could have continued on to make money. In one case, not enough. In the other, it wasn't worth it.

Knowing when it's time to quit has much to do with knowing the feasibility of making as much as you need to make, or whether your heart is even in it.

Steve DiPietro is founder of the DiPietro Marketing Group.

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