Making Better Decisions: The Key to Growing Your Business
- Dorian Cunion
- Feb 2
- 2 min read
Business owners are flooded with information. Social media "experts" constantly push new strategies, making it easy to feel like you are missing out on opportunities if you are not executing every marketing and operational trend. This "noise" can lead to decision paralysis—a state where you feel so overwhelmed by choices that you struggle to take any action at all.
The High Cost of Staying Undecided
The stakes for small businesses are high. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 35% of new businesses fail within their first two years, and only half make it to year five. Often, these businesses fail because the owners spread their time and money too thin.
Most leaders face two main hurdles: managing cash flow and finding new customers. When you try to fix everything at once—improving processes, hiring staff, and increasing sales—you run into Decision Fatigue. As researchers at the Harvard Business Review have found, the more choices you have to make, the harder it becomes for your brain to make "good" ones. Eventually, you might start avoiding important decisions altogether.
Use the "Power of One" to Grow
To move forward, you must choose one primary goal. This is often called the Theory of Constraints. This business rule, popularized by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, suggests that every business has one main "bottleneck" holding it back.
Your job is to find that one big problem and focus all your energy on it. If you fix the biggest bottleneck, the rest of your business will naturally improve.
Focus: If a task doesn’t help you reach your primary goal, it is a distraction.
Efficiency: Spending your limited time and money on one goal gets faster results than trying to do ten things poorly.
Turning Strategy into Action
Once you pick your main goal—like getting more clients—you need a plan. Use SMART goals to make sure your plan is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Success is not about being perfect the first time; it is a cycle. You must think, act, and then reflect on what happened. Even a mistake is useful because it teaches you what doesn't work. As long as you keep learning and adjusting, your decision-making will get sharper.
Get Help Making Better Decisions
Building a business strategy on your own can be difficult. If you want to stop feeling overwhelmed and start seeing real growth, Your Path Coaching and Consulting is here to help. We specialize in helping leaders identify their biggest challenges and create clear, actionable plans to overcome them.
Are you ready to sharpen your strategy and scale your business? Reach out to us today to learn how our consulting services can help you make better decisions and achieve your goals.
Sources
Goldratt, E. M. (1984). The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. North River Press.
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