Real-Life Decision Making
Howard Smith is the co-owner of a small web design and multimedia
company.
He says decision-making skills are very important if you want to run your
own business. The consequences of wrong business decisions are drastic.
"You can either lose your client, or you can go way over budget," he says.
Such mistakes can add up very quickly and lead your business into bankruptcy.
So how do you avoid them?
"You have to plan and strategize well ahead of time, and you have to know
your own limitations," says Smith. "You don't want to say you can do something
if you haven't done it before, because that's setting up for a disaster."
You're a small business owner with a growing coffee and sandwich shop.
Things have been really good lately and you're having trouble keeping up with
demand. You're working every day of the week and you realize you could use
some help.
You decide to place an ad in the newspaper advertising for part-time help.
After a week and many hours going through applications, you have a new
employee and a little more time to yourself. Things go well for a while, but
your new employee has called in sick twice in the past two weeks and has been
late a couple of times, too. When she is there, she does a great job and she's
good with the customers, but you're worried about her reliability.
You don't want to have to go through the trouble and expense of hiring
and training someone else -- you just don't have the time for that. But your
new employee doesn't seem to be taking her job responsibilities very seriously.
You've spoken to her and she's told you it won't happen again. The following
week she shows up for work half an hour late, saying she missed her bus. Should
you fire her, or should you give her another chance?
"When I first started my business, I was so exhausted all the time," says
Marlene Cox, a small business owner.
What are you going to do?