Abandoning vs. Killing Projects

There aren't enough companies that know how and when to give up on projects.

The two biggest mistakes are that people don't base their decision on relevant cash flows* and/or egos get involved.

No one likes 'throwing away' money (/time) or admitting that they were wrong, so marginal projects are allowed to linger on and on and on...

The best way to do the assessment is to get someone from the outside to take a look, who has no vested interests or loyalties. They don't have to be expensive, just able to add up and maintain independence. Once the costs of completing projects are out where everyone can see them the decisions sort of make themselves.

*Any income/expenditure that is going to happen in the future but could be changed by a decision now, excluding money already committed or spent and depreciation.