Running your own business is basically a series of rapid-fire, high-stakes decisions. You are constantly being asked to choose a path and hope that it delivers results. Of course, the pressure to get it right is very real and can create an enormous amount of stress. Honing your decision making skills is valuable, but it can time. So is there any shortcut to making better business decisions?
Always Gather The Data
Any decision you make should be data-driven. It’s a path that helps to eliminate unconscious bias, blind spots and baseless personal preference in favour of something a lot more rational. Of course, numbers and stats don’t tell us the whole story.
They give the what, but not the why. But they are a good place to start. From hiring your first employee to finding a new supplier for your possibly windows and doors, dumpster bins, and more. Getting your data before making any decisions is smart. Knowing the facts doesn’t mean not having an opinion, but it does mean having an informed one.
Furthermore, female entrepreneurs have it tougher in the entrepreneurial world, facing off with challenges that male entrepreneurs simply don’t face. Being prepared for those challenges and understanding what they are is crucial. Here is a guide for women looking to start a business.
Make Business Decisions With The End In Mind
It’s always worth beginning with a clear view of the end goal. Setting KPIs and keeping in mind your overall goals from when you wrote your business plan is essential. It will give you a steer on the ‘why’ of what you’re doing and also create a standard to measure things against. Being crystal clear on what a project needs to achieve and keeping one eye focused on the bigger picture is all part of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Bring it all back to your vision and values. If something doesn’t fit with that, you should be seriously questioning why you’re doing it.
Take A Healthy Approach To Risk
When planning anything in life or business, you need to look at the possible risks involved, in order to make decisions to mitigate those risks. In business, this usually takes involves ensuring you have the right legal contracts, insurance and cybersecurity in place. For this, you’ll need to talk to the specialists who will be able to help you navigate these risks, such as a legal expert or Haycor Computer Solutions who specialize in cybersecurity.
Sense Check Your Ideas While Making Business Decisions
Feedback from others is vital for keeping you on the right path. It also helps to gain a diversity of opinion on certain matters – this helps you to identify potential obstacles that you may not have realised approaching a problem on your own.
If you are relatively new to business, then finding a mentor can be a really great move to get some insight and wisdom on decisions you need to make. You could also consider joining an industry group on LinkedIn or trying to find networking events near you in order to create a peer network who can provide some feedback and market context to your choices.
There are also some helpful guides you can consider as well. For female entrepreneurs, they face a lot of different and difficult challenges compared to male entrepreneurs. There are lots of resources and ways for female entrepreneurs to thrive such as this one from Bankrate.
Make Relaxing The Key
Being able to draw proper boundaries between work life and home is also very relevant to good decision making. When you are fatigued, you’ll often working too much and can’t focus clearly. During those times, it’s easy to overlook things and make mistakes. To be clear-headed you need to be well-rested, and be able to practice relaxation techniques if needed. Ensuring you get enough sleep and prioritize your well-being will only help you. We are the engines that drive our companies forwards, and if we don’t maintain our optimal health the business will suffer. So although a lot of entrepreneurs push themselves, it’s also vital to draw a hard line and know when to look after yourself.
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