How do you make decisions in your small business? Are your choices based on gut instinct, or on a spreadsheet’s worth of pros and cons? Everyone has their own decision-making style (I’m a big proponent of going with the gut), but for the best results, you need to balance three factors:
1. Brain: This is where you weigh the facts and add up the numbers. A lot of this is cost-benefit analysis (are the benefits worth the costs)? In the end, no matter how much you may want to do something, if it’s not financially feasible for your business, the time is probably not right.
2. Heart: How do you feel about the decision? Is working with a client who makes you miserable, but also makes you a lot of money worth the agony?
3. Soul: Here’s where the “oo-ey” factor comes in. Sometimes we just have a feeling that something is the right decision—no matter what our spreadsheet, our mentors or our employees tell us. Soul is a little bit different than heart, and often tuning to it requires just sitting with the decision and letting the answer come to you.
How do you make decisions? Brain, heart, soul or a combination?
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