Make a Decision Already!

People who know me would never accuse me of being afraid of making a decision. While I still have plenty to learn about leading and managing, I am very decisive, sometimes to a fault. I have made mistakes, some large, some small. But I have had quite a few successes as well.

Small Business doesn't really have the luxury of their mid and large-sized cousins when it comes to making decisions. It is simply because they have a much smaller margin of error. While larger businesses can have meetings and spend a lot of time on planning, Small Business owners have to be swift and agile. Not doing so can come with great consequences.

Some of you out there are the procrastinators, or live in fear of making a mistake. My friends', being in business is a gamble in itself. Don't expect to be perfect, you won't. And that is OK!

A bit of fear is healthy; it will help you make a decision based on good data. Fear should not override your desire to try new things, or change things that are not working as you had hoped. You simply need to weigh your fear vs. the desire or need to change.

This is true for any decision you need to make, whether it is the hiring or firing of an employee, a change in the daily workflow, or the addition or subtraction of products or services you may offer.

I start by asking myself 2 questions:

What do I need to do to improve my companies' current financial position?

Most important question, anything you would do should be done as a way to answer this. After all, why would you do anything if you were not trying to change it? This also doesn't have to mean grow; this could mean making a change to get lean in tougher times.

How can I best and most affordably accomplish these goals in a manner in which I feel is not harmful to our overall goals and the morale of our staff?

Any change requires some investment, whether that is time for training, cost of new product, costs of new employees or the time it takes to implement the change. You may need to handle more than one of these tasks. I like to ask other Managers and sometimes our staff about changes I am considering, just to hear other points of view.

Now, time to MAKE A DECISION.

First, don't delay taking action on your information. Either form a meeting or start yourself by weighing the positives and negatives on equal footing (Cost of signage is not balanced by the expectation of $20k in new monthly revenue). Don't sweat the small stuff! Concern yourself with only the big impact items. This will cut through a lot of time, and stop you from making excuses.

What do I personally consider the 'small stuff'?

Example: "If we hire a new person, they will need a laptop."  An employee is an expense, a laptop is also, but a laptop is a necessary tool that could also be sold if things don't go well. So its small stuff.

Also don't LOOK for reasons to be negative, I am a strong believer in positive thought, if you look for reasons to fail, I believe you will. Once you have all of your data, think about it for no more than 24 hours! Then make a decision you believe in.

Now stick with it, responsibly.

Watch closely for the expected results in a sensible timeframe and make more quick decisions as they are required. The real issue is standing pat and not making changes that could impact your business future. It will also frustrate those around you.

The longer you wait, the more you can be tempted to look for other issues. Be proactive, be efficient, don't be afraid, and just make solid deliberate decisions.