If decisions were easy to make and we always knew what the right decision was, then, well, everyone would make the right decisions.
Sometimes a decision is as simple as flipping a coin, with both options being beneficial. Of course, you probably don’t want a coin running your business as you, not the coin, has to deal with the outcomes. Here are three choices that can make a business more successful.
Test New Ideas Or Implement What Works?
The answer to this question: Both. Your company should continue to implement what works as you have data surrounding what works and it’s leading to financial success, and it should also test out new ideas in hopes of becoming more successful, streamlining processes, etc.
What you have to figure out is how long you want to test out a strategy or product. The hard part is knowing when to give up on an idea that’s not working and move on. After all, this test could cost your company a lot of money and the time and effort could be spent on a strategy you’re already incorporating, and one that’s seeing success.
If you experiment at scale, you can test out new ideas directly with users and measure their impact on your goals, as opposed to throwing out a new strategy, expecting results, yet not really knowing how to test and analyze it, let alone how it’s supposed to help you achieve your goals. When performing a new strategy, you need to identify which metrics you’re going to use to analyze if it’s a success or not.
The important thing to keep in mind is that not all tests are failures, as long as you learn from them and incorporate what did work.
Hire More Employees Or Continue Wearing Multiple Hats?
Small business owners and entrepreneurs are known to wear multiple hats. Eventually, many business owners and entrepreneurs want to scale their company. They want to hire employees, to be able to delegate work and focus on what they’re good at.
So how do you know when it’s time to wear multiple hats and when it’s time to hire more employees? It depends on how much control you want over your business, how much you want to work, and of course, how much your company is making.
If you can’t afford to hire more employees, then you shouldn’t break your budget. Keep in mind that the hard work you’re putting in now could lead to your dreams coming true sooner rather than later. You could also cut back on services or focus your marketing efforts in fewer departments—only use Facebook as opposed to every social media network—if you want to wear fewer hats.
Figure out which hats you need to run your business successfully. Research how much money it will take to hire people who can take over these hats. You don’t want to stretch yourself thin, but you also don’t want one business decision (hiring an employee) to sink a company that’s doing well because you can’t afford this decision yet.
Quality Or Quantity?
Quality vs. quantity will always be a debate. While customers want quality products, you have to work with the materials you can afford. You also might not be able to spend all of your time on one product because you need to create multiple products to keep up with sales and demand.
It’s never a good practice to create an inferior product, but every business is different. For example, your company can provide middle-tier headphones if they’re priced fairly. A large company such as Apple can provide quality and quantity because they have the means and production to do so.
This debate comes down to the type of company you want to be known for. It comes down to how fast you can produce products without sacrificing quality. It also comes down to your profession and industry. Only you can make the correct choice.
