Mind Your Business

Decision Making

An entrepreneur who has difficulty making decisions will stumble down the mountains they will have to climb as a business owner.  Running a business is not for the weak or timid, passivity is not an option.  It demands a strong, yet flexible backbone that houses tremendous strength.  The bigger your dream, the bigger your business,  the more your decisions will be complicated and emotionally draining.  Entrepreneurship is not for the feeble

You may have to face decisions that will make you freeze or become undecisive.  Your dreams, your family and your future will also freeze.  Your business is in jeopardy when you are indecisive.  It is like bowling, and aiming for the pins, aiming for the pins but never letting go of the bowling ball.

The marketplace demands an upgraded version of your service or product, but you cannot decide to let go of the old way of doing things.  This opens the door for the dreaded competitor who answers the call. The competitor is not the problem he is the symptom of your problem.  Your problem is non-action.

Indecision is a common issue for all business owners.  Some decisions are just so darn difficult to make. Your challenge is to drive indecision from your life, but you must first identify the cause.

1. Fear

The main culprit of indecision is fear. Fear causes paralysis.  Like a deer in the path of danger that reacts with that deer-in-the-headlights response.  The Bible verse “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” comes to mind.  Like a frightened squirrel caught in traffic scurrying over there, no over here, no another way, let me try this way,…until you hear a thump! Hmmm the terrible price of indecision.  Indecision can kill your dreams and ruin your life.

Sometimes we are afraid of losing a customer, changing an outdated practice that has worked for years, or losing money. Once you face the fact that fear is the cause of your indecision you can come up with a system to overcome it. These fears are well founded and ignoring the consequences of our decisions is not wise, however it is also not wise to allow fear to drive your decisions. Failure to make this your intent will allow competitors to enter your space while you run to a safe corner and sulk. It is business wise to acknowledge that a competitor may or may not pose a threat, but it is dangerous to let them paralyze you. Live your dreams and not your fears. Do it afraid ! Deciding not to decide a thing right now is a decision.  This is different from letting fear paralyze you from making decisions.

Case in point, you trust someone to take care of your business books.  Every month you receive a report stating you owe nothing to any suppliers and all your receivables are in.  Relieved you take some time off and enjoy a well-deserved vacation with your family.  You receive a call while on vacation that the IRS is at your business ready to padlock your doors for unpaid taxes. This whole thing escapes you because you have seen the monthly reports from the trusted person who does your books.  Your right-hand person, watching over the business will you are away investigates the matter.  The fact is that you are behind on several bills, and you have lots of open receivables.  You resolve the matter with a credit card, but you are seething mad. The whole thing is embarrassing. Furthermore, you trusted the wrong person. You must decide, do you cut your vacation short and fire the person? Or do you do nothing until you are calmed down, finish your vacation, and then handle the matter? You choose to do nothing right now until you have calmed down.  This is a good decision. It is different from indecision driven by fear.

Business Ad Staff Writer

Hope This Helps !