All or nothing jewellery designers wanted

I have just had a meeting with one of the handmade jewellery designer/makers who's range we stock at pressies'. She has been supplying us for a little over 8 months. We have a very close (friendly) relationship. We sponsor her new designs GUARANTEEING to purchase them, because her cashflow is tight. And, we have invested a lot of time promoting her range. Our designer and copywriter have virtually created from scratch her image on the store. We order more stock increasingly more often. Yet, still she keeps on her part-time job (designing jewellery for another producer). Still she's unwilling to take that leap of faith.

I don't get it. What's she waiting for? Between making stock for pressies' and holding down her part-time job, she's no time left to develop new ranges. Her website languishes undeveloped and out-of-date. She's no time for selling, so her distribution isn't growing. She says she's not making enough out of her personal jewellery range to quit the job. But, I cannot understand why she thinks that's going to change?! She is trapped in the status quo. The business can't support her, because she is not supporting the business. She's spending half her time helping someone else grow theirs!

My frustration is palpable. We love her jewellery. We are really pushing it. And, we want more, because we know we can sell it. But, it seems our belief is stronger than hers. People with less talent do better through sheer self-belief.

This situation reminds me of something entrepreneur/ presenter Martin Webb said on "Risking It All" (Channel 4). He told a couple of guys running a 'trendy' cafe badly, "You can either go bankrupt quickly or slowly [but the end result is still the same]." He was trying to encourage them to either take a risk and invest in their poorly performing business or quit. Above all, he didn't want them to quietly slip into bankruptcy by doing neither.

Martin's all or quit approach is just as apt to success. You can go for it, aim for the big hit, throw all your resources at it and find out in 18 months if you've got a viable business (or not). At least you will either succeed or fail quickly (life is, after all, short). And, if you fail you can discount that idea and move on. Or, better still, you learn fast and adapt your business prior to bankruptcy.

On the other hand, you will learn little from dwindling failure. I know, I did that first time 'round. And, trust me, it costs you just as much money and a whole lot more lost time!