MBA 974 How to Make Big Decisions in Your Business

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Hey O. Welcome to the $100 MBA Show. Because your business depends on you getting better with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the hundred dollar MBA, a complete business training and community online over at 100- MBA-NET and in today's lesson, you'll learn how to make big decisions in your business. As an entrepreneur, as a business owner, you're making decisions all the time. Several in one day, sometimes several in one hour. But in today's lesson, we're gonna be talking about those big decisions, the ones that will really alter the course of your business. Like should you take on a partner, should you take on investors, should you, should you make that expensive investment in talent, maybe with a big hire or two, or should you close down the business altogether? These are big decisions and you need to have some sort of method, some sort of plan of action when it comes to making these decisions. It's good to have some guidelines that you can lean on to ease the pressure and make making these decisions a little bit easier for you. You're gonna have to make these big decisions, but no one said it has to be painful. I want to walk you through how I like to make big decisions. My methodology so that when I do make that decision, I feel content. I feel like, okay, I've done everything I can to make the right choice. That feeling is gold. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Whatever big decision you're making, it often creates a sense of stress anxiety within you. Why? Because with big decisions, the stakes are high. You don't want to make the wrong decision. I want to give you some tips, some strategies. I want to share with you what I do when I have to make big decisions. Now, one of the big things that you can have when it comes to making big decisions is perspective. Whenever you make a big decision, ask yourself this question. Why did you start this business in the first place? Yes, that's going to make you sit down and think about it for a moment. But this is a big decision. It's important. So you got to make time for this. You've got to make time to think this through. So the first thing I like to ask myself is, why did I start this business in the first place? Why did I start this project in the first place? And we're looking for honest answers here. And there's nothing wrong with saying, I'm trying to make a few bucks on the side. Making money is not wrong. We all need to make money. We need to support our families, support ourselves. Totally legit reason, you might say, I'm trying to innovate. I want to be creative. I saw this opportunity to express my creativity. It's really important to jot these things down as you come up with them. Write down the reason or the reasons why you started this business in the first place. And if you didn't start the business, whether you bought the business or inherited the business, why are you still in the business? Ask yourself that question. So I'm going to walk you through this process with an example. Let's say, for example, my answer to that question. I started this business because I wanted to be financially independent and have the flexibility of time to be able to do things I love, whether it's travel or just spend more time with my loved ones. So now that I have established that, I got to ask myself, when I'm making this big decision, whether it's for or against, which way will endorse, which way will support those reasons why I started the business. So say, for example, I have a coffee shop and I'm trying to open up a second branch. By opening a second branch, will I have more time with my family and friends? Will I be more free in terms of My flexibility. Can I travel? Maybe not. So you see how having some perspective, understanding why you started this business in the first place helps you make a decision. It helps you remind you of your own values. Which way in this decision is aligned with my values? Sometimes we forget what makes us happy. Sometimes we forget what we want. And we need to remind ourselves. And you have to continually remind yourself because it's easy to get off track. And it's easy to make small, small decisions and even big decisions that will affect your business and go against why you started it in the first place. Now, after you've done this exercise, sometimes it's just clear cut. You're like, you know what? I shouldn't go down this path. I should say no to this opportunity. It's not in line with my values and it's done. Your big decision is over. But sometimes it's still difficult. Sometimes I'm being real, you know, sometimes it's still not clear. At that point you're going to get as objective as possible. You're going to answer another question. This question is, what does success look like for my business? When your business is successful, what does that look like? Is that a number in terms of revenue? Is that growth in terms of number of customers? Is that number of employees? Is it being recognized by the media? Is it being on the COVID of Time magazine? Whatever. The point is, what does success look like for your business? And now we're gonna go back to that decision, making this decision either way, which way is gonna help me be successful according to that definition. Now, this helps you step back a little bit and see your business as a separate entity and say, hey, this is what success looks like for this business. You know, let's say, for example, a million dollars in revenue in one year. Will this decision help me get to that goal? This exercise is really helpful because it kind of removes all the emotion out of it. While the first exercise, if it doesn't give you a clear answer, because, hey, you feel one way or the other, this one is just pure data. Now, another way, a third way to make a decision. And this one is so effective. When you're making this big decision, usually one of the choices is not easy to make. It's the one that you're trying to avoid. And you gotta ask yourself the question, why are you trying to avoid it? Is it because you think it's the wrong way to go or is it just painful or difficult for you to do? Ask yourself the question, if somebody else had to do that, had to do any of the work that's involved in that hard decision, Would you take that directive? Would you say, hey, go ahead and do it? If the answer is yes, then that's probably the right decision, even though it's hard. I'll give you a good example. Last year when we were releasing our latest version of our software, Webinar Ninja, we had to delay the launch. And the delay was a couple of months. We wanted to fine tune a few other things that were not ready for production. And I had to make the decision either to launch on time and remove those features that are kind of giving us some trouble and that need tweaking, or launch later, but have those essential features working perfectly. And I knew I had to delay the launch. I knew that these features were important and I had to include them in the release. But I just didn't want to disappoint my customers. I just didn't want to deliver that news. And I knew at that moment the reason why I don't want to make that decision is because it's hard. But I manned up. I got in front of the camera, shot a video for our customers, sent an email, and it was fine. But in the moment, I had a hard time with the decision. And you know, on the surface I felt like, hey, it's a toss up. I can either do this or this. Really, it's clear once you ask the question, why is one of them harder than the other? It's because you just simply don't want to go through the motions of implementing that decision. Sometimes when we're busy with life and business, we don't get a chance to analyze what why we feel a certain way or why we're even making a decision about something. So it's good to ask these simple questions when we're trying to make big decisions. And again, you're going to need to make some time for this. You're going to have to set some time. One of the worst things you can do when it comes to big decisions is rush. Some of us, we like to make decisions quickly. And that's fine for things that don't really affect or have a dramatic effect on our business. But for big decisions, you should not rush it. You should give it the time it deserves. And when I say give it the time it deserves, I don't mean just put it off and say, I'll think about it later. I'm saying allow some time for it, schedule it into your calendar and actually make the time to answer these questions and to think about it. Sometimes the time it deserves is only an hour or two. But it's only an hour or two thinking about that decision only. These are some of the techniques I like to use when it comes to making big decisions in your business.

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A lot of other techniques you can use when it comes to making big decisions. A lot of people like to do pros and cons lists and we do that sometimes and those work even better for less high pressure type of decisions, strategic decisions, how you want to implement something. Now some people like to take advice from other people and that's fine and all, but I just want to say a word of caution. No one's going to know your situation more than you. And yes, it's good to get an objective opinion, but you got to take it with a grain of salt because again, they have their own problems, their own decisions and their own life they're thinking about and their own filter. Remember, they have their own definition of success and why they would start a business and all that stuff. Lastly, I know this isn't easy. It's hard. Business is hard. I'm the first one to say that being an entrepreneur is so great and it's so significant and it's such an achievement because it's hard. I'm not one to say that. This is super simple and everybody can do this and it's no problem and it's a walk in the park and you barely have to try and you can become a millionaire. No way. I live this every day and I can tell you firsthand that you're going to have to make some tough big decisions in your business it's not fun, it's not something I look forward to, but it's got to be done. It's kind of like the tax you got to pay to be an entrepreneur. And for me, it's something I'm happy to pay because, hey, I'm doing what I love. I get to be creative entrepreneurs, get to create things out of thin air. That's incredible. So don't get too down. Make the decision and move on. All right, that wraps up today's episode. Thank you so much for listening to the $100 MBA show. If you haven't left us an itunes rating and review yet, please do so. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to know what you love about the show, what your favorite episode is. We read every single review. Alright, that's it for me today, guys. But before I go, I want to leave you with this. I find it really helpful to have a paper and pen when I'm making big decisions. Just to write down notes, to write down the things that I'm saying or the answers to the questions I'm asking myself. It's good just to see it in black and white, you know, and that way I can refer to it. I can actually challenge myself and say, is that a really valid concern? Is that what I really believe? Is that really one of my core values? When you say something, it just comes out of your mouth and it's gone, right? But when you write it down, it kind of stares back at you and you have to actually validate it with some thought. You have to say, hey, is this true? Is this really how I feel? Or maybe that's how I felt five years ago. And I've changed. I've been just kind of regurgitating the same answer. I hope that helps and I hope to see you in tomorrow's episode. I'll see you then. Take care. Psoriatic arthritis symptoms can be unpredictable. I had joint pain and I couldn't move like I used to. I needed relief. I got Kosentix. It helped me move better.

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