Running a business requires some fairly particular skills. You are expected to be a project manager, financial guru, administrative champion, staff motivator and then some.
Your personality and determination will be constantly challenged and you’ll be exhausted. But you may never be too tired or too overwhelmed to grab opportunities and steer your company in the right direction.
Making the best decisions for your business is possibly, standalone, one of the most difficult things to tackle. You’re expected to make decisions that will drive productivity and profits, but which will keep your operation stable. Sometimes opportunity knocks at the worst times and you have to wave it on by as it passes. However, this type of situation can be mitigated if you have strong decision-making skills.
Nurturing your ability to make informed and smart decisions is something you should begin focusing on right at the start. Before you’ve opened your business’ doors, you should have honed in on this skill.
The best way to foster strong decision-making skills is by reading, researching and empowering yourself with a broad spectrum of business knowledge.
Follow entrepreneurs who you respect or who have failed and returned a more powerful force in their industry. Considering many of the great, well-known entrepreneurs out there have suffered incredible failures, there are a variety of personalities to choose from.
Make sure you pay attention to how they remain ready, and at the helm at all times, to make decisions that will benefit their business.
Here are a few ways to enhance your decision-making skills.
Learn how to make quick decisions
Really sit and think about all the variables you must consider before making any business decision. Unpack the areas in which you have ample knowledge and expertise and those in which you don’t. The areas where you lack knowledge is where you should focus your attention.
Gain some topline knowledge about everything that affects your business. From which internet service provider is considered the best to what courses you might send your staff on to upskill them. And making decisions about your staff in any capacity is often considered a quick decision. The staff member in question often wants an answer, and soon.
You need to learn to trust your gut so that these types of quick-fire answer situations are handled seamlessly and timeously.
Consider attending short courses on various aspects of the business that are out of your realm of expertise. For instance, participating in a human resources and legal course will assist you with your hiring and firing procedures.
Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is such a trend at the moment that it’s bordering becoming a marketing buzzword. But the concept makes sense and has helped many people in their personal lives.
Practicing mindful eating will assist with a healthier lifestyle, being mindful in your relationships will bring about more peaceful interactions and so on. Being mindful in your business is important too.
Mindfulness applied to a real time business environment means the business owner makes decisions based on what actually makes sense for the business in that moment.
Many business owners have a tunnel vision approach to their goals and focus far too much on not upsetting the marketplace, making up numbers and ensuring they look like a burgeoning enterprise.
When in fact, they’re making decisions based on external (possibly unimportant) factors and therefore not thinking first.
Transformation, innovation and the possibility of being disruptive are all restricted.
Enrol the help of those you trust
Just because you are the business owner doesn’t mean you’re the only one capable of making a good decision. If you’ve employed staff then you will know you’ve had to learn to trust that they too have your business’ best interests at heart.
When faced with a big decision, bring the top level staff together and put the concern to them. Ask them to assist you with breaking down the options and even create business plan templates for each option and potential outcome. Have your finance person factor in all expected profits, losses and risks.
Have your marketing person consider campaigns they’d like to see roll out for each option you have and enlist the help of your project manager to estimate deadlines and responsibilities. In this way you’re able to take a more pragmatic approach to making a big decision.
