In honor of my 1-year wedding anniversary last month, I decided to repost an article I wrote last year for ‘Lady & Company Creative’ and how having SIX wedding dresses helped me with my business decision making and overcoming analysis paralysis.
I have four wedding dresses hidden in the back of my closet, and two more being shipped to me as I type this blog. I’m just going to let that sink in for a second. This is not an exaggeration, this is my current situation. By Tuesday, I will own six wedding dresses.
So, this is the point in which I answer a few questions running through your head. Yes, I am actually getting married in March. No, I’m not one of those women who has dreamed about their wedding day since they were little, this is my second marriage which may be a contributing factor to this whole ”dress situation”. You are also probably wondering how my inability to say “yes to the dress” relates to business. I promise I will get there, just stay with me.
Like I mentioned, I had been married before — which doesn’t mean that tying the knot with Steve (my fiancé) isn’t exciting and special — it just means I already have an idea of what to expect at our upcoming nuptials. This time around money is probably our number one factor, if it wasn’t for wanting to share the occasion with family we probably would just elope. We don’t want to spend a bunch of money on a big affair, we would rather put the money to a trip or put it towards our house, or simply just not spend the money at all. So the bigger question is now “why?” Why when I don’t want to spend extra money on my wedding am I sitting on a bounty of white lace? Well, quite simply put, I can’t make a decision and because of this it’s costing me money. Money I can’t afford to waste. Even though I know this, I still have taken no action to actually make a decision.
Decision making can be a hard and overwhelming process, making the wrong decision can cost money, customers, and stress. Several bad decisions could even generate the worst case scenario of your business closing. It makes perfect sense that business owners can find themselves paralyzed when faced with a major decision — but I got news for you: making no decision at all can do the same exact thing, and inevitably cripple your ability to move forward or grow.
I was doing research on business decision making and came across an article on Entrepreneur.com, written by guest writer Stan Popovich (author of A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear), in which he offers six suggestions on how to make the right business decisions (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237562). In this article the one thing that really stood out for me is his reminder that running a business is a series of never ending decisions. We all know this, but for some reason when the big ones hit we become stagnant or avoid the choice we have to make. Popovich reiterates this notion by reminding us to stop putting off important decisions, and to not worry about our past mistakes, “just keep focusing on what is best for your company.”
Did you know that you can get a MBA in Decision Making? There are diagrams and worksheets available online, and oh so many books on Amazon, all dedicated to helping you make the right decision. Realistically though, we can’t diagram every decision (I know because I have tried), you just have to evaluate the choice, be clear on the outcome you are trying to achieve, ask for advice when you need it, and when you do make a decision accept that you made one and move forward.
So, just like I have to do daily with my business, I now need to decide on a dress, because if I don’t do it soon, I’ll end up having to start a new company, ”Teresa’s Wedding Dresses,” boy, I really hope I kept the receipts!
This blog was originally featured on www.ladyandcompany.com January 2018.