Making decisions and taking action quickly are a daily requirement for business owners.

Some decisions can be made on the fly and some require analysis & reflection.

Before you leap at an opportunity, such as:
- Buying a great machine;
- Running a series of ads;
- Leasing space, or expanding;
- Joining forces with another person/company; or
- Pursuing a new business direction,

Whatever the opportunity that presents, take time to think through the pros & cons.

Decisions that fit within your plan and budget are easy because you've already thought through what you can afford and what makes sense for your business.

So it's easy to say 'yes' to an opportunity to advertise in a special section of a publication that you'd already selected as a good one to reach your target customer, as long as the cost is within the advertising budget.

Decisions that require a greater investment in dollars and time deserve analysis.

A couple of tools are useful in thinking through a decision.

The 3-Cs: Customers, Competitors, & Company.

With this approach, you try to 'walk around' the issue or opportunity and examine it from different perspectives.

Customer: What does this mean to my customers? Will customers perceive a benefit?

Competition: How does this position me relative to the competition? Will this give me a competitive advantage?

Company: What does this mean to my company? Can I afford it? What will I be trading off if I make this investment/decision?

Another useful tool is a MATRIX of the Pros & Cons.

You can do a simple matrix on the back of an envelope. Draw a line in the middle and write 'Pro' on one side and 'Con' on the other.

List key attributes for the decision. For a lease, you would be concerned about: location, cost, security, parking, build-out, access to mass transportation, and other factors depending on your business.

With this information laid out on a matrix, you can compare one choice against another and make an informed decision.

Before you leap into a business partnership or alliance with another company, test out the relationship. Try working on a project together and confirm that you have similar values, work standards, and can resolve issues in a mutually respectful manner.

It's important to know each other, especially under stressful
circumstances, and find a way to 'test out' whether the business relationship will work. When the chips are down, you want to know how your business partner is going to react.

Many business relationships don't work out, and the old adage is certainly true that it's easier to get into a relationship than it is to get out. The next eNews will address 'Business Divorce' -- what happens when business relationships don't work out.

In conclusion, before you leap at an opportunity, take time to consider the 3-Cs and matrix the pros and cons. It'll give you a more complete picture of the choice you are making.

Before you join forces with another person or company, put an agreement in writing to make certain that your expectations are congruent.

Informed decision making is the goal. Too much analysis can lead to 'analysis paralysis' which means that no decision gets made.  There's another adage that 'a bad decision is better than no decision' and an informed decision is your best bet.

Good luck!


Jean D. Sifleet
Attorney & CPA

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