The most expensive decisions are the ones you don't make

Every business owner has a decision they're avoiding. 

It might be an underperforming employee, a difficult customer (the one that makes you wince when you see them calling), a business partner who's no longer pulling their weight, or simply accepting a standard that isn't good enough. Whatever it is, you usually know the answer long before you act on it. 

The problem is that every time you're ready to make the decision, you find another reason to wait. Perhaps things will improve. Perhaps one more conversation will make the difference. Perhaps you're overthinking it. 

Usually they are just excuses because you don’t want to go through the pain and you don’t like confrontation. 

Before you know it, months have turned into years and it’s harder to make the decision. 

Recently, a client said something to me that I've heard more than once over the years. 

"I wish I'd made that decision years ago, thank you for your help."

He wasn't talking about a risky investment or a commercial gamble.  He was talking about a decision he'd carried around for far too long, hoping the situation would somehow resolve itself. 

It never did. 

He and the business simply continued accepting second best because the cost of doing nothing felt less painful than the discomfort of taking action. 

When we sat down together, I didn't tell him what to do. We talked it through, challenged the assumptions he'd been making and spent as much time discussing the cost of standing still as we did the risks of moving forward. Once he'd seen the situation through a different lens, the decision became much clearer. 

He needed confidence it was the right decision, his hand holding through the process and that he wouldn’t come to regret to change.

A few weeks later it had been implemented. 

His first comment? 

"I wish I'd made that decision years ago, thank you for your help."

I've heard that sentence countless times. 

I can't remember anyone ever telling me they wished they'd waited another year. 

One of the greatest benefits of having an experienced business mentor alongside you isn't that they make difficult decisions for you. It's that they help you think more clearly, challenge the stories you've been telling yourself and give you the confidence to act when you've known the answer all along. 

It’s to provide the accountability to take action and get the desired result. 

What's the one decision you've been putting off, and what will it cost you if you're still avoiding it this time next year?