Kathleen, GREAT question. I'll share my opinion, for what it's worth.
So much of this has to do with personality. Some folks are always in a rush to succeed - at anything. They'll try something, flit to the next, then another - until one of them works. Then, they'll stick with it, or maybe get restless and move on.
Others are steady, willing to plod and test and tweak until they succeed at what they start. It may take years, but they'll get there - unless something is really wrong with what they're doing.
Then, at what point should you give up on a niche or product?
Let's assume you started out right - by tapping into YOUR passion, researching the PROFIT potential of that passion, surveying the market to see what it WANTS, and then CREATING VALUE that meets that demand.
If you've done all this, and the niche itself is a proven one where others are winning big, then all it takes is to plod along and stick with it until you reach that level. No, not by doing the same things over and over, but by constantly learning, testing, adapting, modifying, improving.
On the other hand, if you've NOT done those critical 4 things before you plunged into a niche based on 'gut feeling' or 'coz they did it', and you don't have any 'proof of concept' to convince you that this is going to be great, why then drop it at any point where you feel it isn't going anywhere fast.
Seth Godin distinguishes between "Dips" and "cul de sacs". The first is a temporary slow-down before the big win. The other is a dead-end you can't make work for you - but must only settle for.
Hope this helps in some little way
All success
Dr.Mani
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