My life is filled with extremely colorful characters. (I’m looking at you, father-of-six that still rocks red jeans and hip-hop icon-turned museum curator.) It was the latter, Danny Boy O’Connor, that gave me one of the best business metaphors I’ve ever heard.

“Man … sounds like you built a house around a doorknob.”

He was accurately describing what I had done—spending a small-fortune of cash—and years of my life—working on a project that simply existed because of a single idea I thought I needed to turn into something special.

This particular “doorknob” isn’t the subject here. It’s the process I want to discuss.

For starters, I’m not talking about a product or service we build companies around. No, I’m referring to those situations every entrepreneurs finds themselves in when they’ve run out of time and money.

“What do we have to work with?”

“Do we have anything we can sell?”

“Oh shit! What about [fill in the blank] … that cool thing we came up with last summer?!”

This is where we get into trouble. Instead of stepping back and taking a big, sweeping view of the situation, we panic and ditch our original calling or idea.

I know … there’s a decent list of great companies that came out of total disasters. We’re not talking about those rare gems. Yes, they happen. And no, this doorknob of yours isn’t like going to be the next gem on that list.

Here’s a few basic questions you can ask yourself to determine if you have a doorknob, a gem, or a fossilized turd in your hand:

Why am I thinking about this thing any way?
If it’s because it’s impossible for you to NOT think about it … it’s not a doorknob. It could be next great project or venture.
Is this a distraction from what I really want or need to be doing?
If your thinking about it because you’ve been criticized, rejected, or you’re simply out-of-gas, it could very well be a doorknob. Quitting to focus on a shiny, new object or less demanding opportunity is how most rookie entrepreneurs stop being entrepreneurs.
Have I completely exhausted every possible option on what I’ve been doing?
If you think you have, you most definitely haven’t. Please listen to me … I’m coming to you from the future: there’s almost always someone or something willing to help you, as long as (a) your idea solves a real problem and has the potential to create tons of customers, (b) you have the courage to talk to people with the experience and resources to help you, (c) you are brutally honest with yourself and these people about your current dilemma, and, (d) you aren’t a complete dick (i.e., you are coachable and are open to honest criticism and feedback.)

Don’t be embarrassed if you realize you have a house (or an entire apartment building) growing around your doorknob. Just don’t spend another minute or dollar on it until you can step back and evaluate whether or not it’s keeping you from pursuing the very thing that you promised yourself or others that you’d do.