How do you know when to pull the plug on a project?

KAREN FLAVELLE,(l)
President and CEO, RC Purdy Chocolates Ltd.
“We were at a machine show and got really excited about a cherry depositer for our maraschino cherries. We’re always trying to see if there is a way of keeping the quality but making them more efficiently because if we can make them more efficiently, we can offer them at a better price. But we would have had to change the syrup, and we felt it was not as good as the syrup we already had. Therefore we’re still doing our labour-intensive method.We’re still looking for the magic way to do it faster but to keep the same quality.”

KELLY ZMAK(c)
President, Radical Entertainment Inc.
“There’s no easy and there’s no medium in our business; it starts at hard and we try to keep it from going to stupid. But the truth is, it comes down to a business decision or an instinct decision – it’s the balancing of those two. If we ship a bad game, it’s more damaging than not shipping at all. Give them every opportunity to fail, but when they do fail, admit it, move forward and go on to something else.”

BILL WARING(r)
President, De Dutch Pannekoek House Restaurants Inc.
“Once the writing is on the wall that a project is not fulfilling, it’s time to move on to the next thing. We’re a business. Contrary to what some people would like business to be, it’s all about making a profit – plain and simple. That is first and foremost, and if anybody tells you any different, they’re either a liar or a fool.”