thread Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭 in Community Corner

What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

isabelle — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:25:54 GMT

Mornnninggg Seller Community! ☀️

Today I'm wondering...

What is the hardest decision you've had to make for your business?

What made it the most difficult? How did you come to the decision?

I look forward to reading your replies ✨

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

homeprogreen — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 17:03:36 GMT

Few years back I was trying to decide about taking on a business loan to expand what I offer in the shop. Up until that point I was completely debt free in the business since I started it with cash I had on hand. Basically it boiled down to deciding if the debt would actually improve cash flow or not. It did gain a fair amount of customers so was worth it. Still wish I didn’t have the debt load though

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

ber — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 17:47:10 GMT

All of the hardest decisions I have ever made date back to my previous Corporate life. Some were good decisions and the bad ones were limited but one involved a decision to leave that was a little premature. I really regretted that decision but now it is simply in the rearview mirror.

Today, as both the founder and owner of a growing and developing business all decisions are mine. I make good and bad decisions for our business but I live comfortably the results.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

Minion — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:28:12 GMT

Similar to @homeprogreen decision, I would say that probably the hardest decisions that I continue to make are what products and services to offer. I don't want to be like any other auto body shop, or online parts store, so carrying and offering select products and services that I specialize in, while also expanding slightly to gain more revenue from other areas. Its a fine line to walk but its working well thus far.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

GourmetOnWheels — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:54:56 GMT

8 years ago I had to make a decision to either drop all my farmers' markets, except one, to focus on consumer and business deliveries. Or stay with all my markets. My thinking was I might make more money with deliveries rather than staying with 11 markets. I did switch to one market and deliveries and it turned out way better than I ever expected.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

Jantiques — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 22:36:54 GMT

About a year before the Great Recession came crashing down, we had opened our second store (same town, one store a little out of the way, the new one right downtown). It was my ultimate dream space: beautiful, charming, great location. Also way more expensive; much bigger overhead (but the numbers bore it out). We were doing very well and growing like crazy. Until we weren't. After the crash, people simply stopped spending (especially on home accessories/gifts). And our landlords were less than helpful in working out a survival plan (unfortunately, they owned a number of buildings in town and didn't give their tenants any bit of leeway, as others did). So, with huge sadness, we decided to break our lease, sell off most of the inventory and fixtures, and retreat to our original location (much smaller, decent rent, kind and understanding landlords). Breaking the lease was horribly expensive, but we figured it was our only chance, short of going bankrupt. That was an agonizing decision. After that, I swore we'd never sign a five-year lease again. A dozen or so years later, we're still at our original location, doing very well, still keeping expenses down, and also sleeping at night. Since then, we've been operating on three-year leases with an option to renew and it's worked out just fine.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

iowalacey — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 23:03:06 GMT

I started a pizza restaurant in 2005 and never did I think I would still be in business in 2021! Quality food with Great Service wins 'em over year after year. Hardest decision I've ever had to make is going on now - Sell It or Let my Niece take over operations. I personally am bored. So I've been training my niece for almost a full year and she is doing well. I am going to take a 6 month sabbatical..... sort of...lol. I will still be doing the accounting, payroll, taxes and such so that I can make sure she is staying profitable and on top of guest experiences. If she keeps it running I will stay the course and get another job doing something exciting and new; if she gets bored or numbers start to fall I will have to step in and decide all over again if I am going to stay with it or sell it. I'm proud of my business longevity and I LOVE LOVE LOVE my guests!! But there has to be something else I haven't conquered yet in my 49 years!! 😎

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

MonsterInnov — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 23:45:09 GMT

THe hardest decision ive had to make was if it was worth the suffering i experienced. The suffering pertains to the company not taking off. I had to figure out what was actually the problem and if the issue causing the company failure was fixable or if i had to just accept the loses. After looking into the issues it came down to myself not hiring the right people for what i requested from them. So due to improper hiring i caused no productivity. At that point i new i still had a chance at salvaging my business. So i cut back funds typically used on food and luxuries and put it all on the line. Im finally at the end of the downside and am glad i risked it because now i have a great appreciation for what i've created. This is just one scenario though and doesnt apply all the time. You have to know when to cut your losses. If you know it can work though never let people discourage you from your dreams of creating something special that you know will help people! I hope this helped.

My favorite quote, "You can NEVER see new Beaches if you never leave the Shore"

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

cranoia — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 00:28:27 GMT

Firing dead weight.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

FYAMobileNotary — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:01:28 GMT

Hi Cranoia, The best advice I ever received was from the person that appointed me to my first corporate management position. He said "No breath is better than bad breath." It may be painful to fire someone, but if they are not carrying their weight, if they are not doing the job, if they don't share your vision for customer service, the other employees know it and they are wondering what they have to do more work to cover for this person. Overall, it creates a poor working environment at best and at worst it creates a toxic work environment with everyone from you, to employees, to customers paying the price for retaining one person with "bad breath." Keep in mind, it doesn't mean this is a bad person - it just means they are a bad fit for this position or organization and they will have an opportunity to excel in another role or organization.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

GeoffCJ — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 15:57:29 GMT

Laying off people to survive Covid slowdowns. We're in CA, which locked down pretty hard, and we do most of our sales at events and catering. None of that was happening. It was a clear decision, and we did survive, but it broke me inside and honestly I lost some love for my business that I haven't recovered.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

mitten — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 14:21:07 GMT

To close a location during COVID. But was the smartest too.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

shopfybr — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 16:17:33 GMT

In general, understanding the difference between an expense and an investment, and then take the leap on an investment.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

YoungsSparkling — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 17:49:47 GMT

I think the hardest decision i have had to make was pricing. wanting to be reasonable but at the same time knowing my worth. it hard when i mean if pricing is too high your not going to get any customers and if its too low you will have alot of customers but you want be making enough money to actually run your business .

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

cranoia — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 00:11:43 GMT

So true, thanks I struggle with it, but you are so right, it created a toxic place for the other employees as they were all walking on eggshells. It had to be done, and I grew and learned from it. Thanks for the advice, I will remember those words on my next head chopping adventure.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

KBDC — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 01:59:51 GMT

The decision to close my business and start over.

Based on some serious "look myself in the mirror time" I came to admit that I lacked the drive to do what was required for the business I had. I got a book The Five Minute Business Plan. Next question - What am I willing to do? What are my strengths and most importantly weaknesses.

I discovered that paperwork and employees are problematic for me. So I designed a business that required neither.

The decision I made was "I want all the business that I can do myself without any employees and minimal paperwork".

I am a chiropractor. My practice is on autopilot. No insurance, no paperwork to speak of. No accounts receivable. Just Square appointments and payments. It is a dream come true. I am leaving on a 10 day vacation. lol

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

Donnie-M — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 10:18:15 GMT

I thought about this one for a minute and pandemic decisions were tough. I at first thought selecting an employee to lay off would have been the toughest, but unfortunately when you have to seriously weigh the value of someone in your business, it exposes your failures and successes in training people. It also exposes marginal employees you should have done something about a long time ago. So in reality, that was not the toughest decision.

The truly hardest decision I had to make was how long do I keep doing something waiting on things to change like cutting items from the menu. How far do I go down that road of digging in for a prolonged downturn, versus throwing in the towel, versus don't change anything. With little information on the extent of lock downs, supply chain issues, etc. how do I predict the course of business with confidence and make good decisions?

So I have focused on reading daily, industry publications especially, and talking to customers about their business plans. I reinvested the down time in training employees and streamlining operations. I realized finally that the decisions I make, I will not know the outcome, so I planned for a long term gain by sacrificing short term savings. It was just get by or come out ahead that was the toughest decision, because there was no guarantee of coming out of this.

Donnie-M

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

BreezyPaul — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 12:51:50 GMT

Hardest decision, how to deal with govt unemployment subsidies disincentive. We are ok on weekends, but during the week, we went to a "lunch" model, limited menu, window ordering, take out, sit on our awesome deck on the lake.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

kellyj — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 16:11:11 GMT

I just felt like this was a great question, and I want to jump in on this one too.

Hardest business decision I ever had to make was the decision to close after 10 years in business. Hardest and best decision I've ever made in so many aspects, but I think it's so relevant to this discussion.

I started my floral business in 2009, and grew it into a thriving and acclaimed business - winning awards, traveling the world, doing the things. BUT it came at a personal expense. The business taxed my actual life, limiting my ability to be with my kids, and putting stress on me to constantly take on more and more in order to remain competitive and profitable. Work harder and harder, and in the floral world, there is not always a great way to work smarter. I was increasingly reliant on factors that were out of my control- flooding at the ports kept shipments from coming in on time, natural disasters, costly American grown products for back ups.

Personal circumstances also played a huge part in what I was growing, literally. But the reason this turned out to be the best ever decision I made was because it opened up different opportunity for me. I listened to a life changing book - The E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. I cannot stress how important this book is in a 1000 ways.

As Entrepreneurs we're all taught that the harder you work, the plans you set, define your success. And yes, that is true, but it's as equally true to find success in closing a thriving business when it's time and not playing it out until circumstance takes you a different way.

My take aways:

A thriving career here with Square.

Time for my kids and family that I didn't have previously.

And an enjoyment for floral design that isn't now defined by monetary value, it's back to being about creativity.

But the hardest decision I ever made was turning the key for the last time.

Re: What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make for your business? 💭

KiRoCreations — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 18:03:52 GMT

Well, I'm just starting... trying to settle on a business name, a website, prices and where to sell. Right now, I'm making small sales on my Twitter.... better then nothing.

I think the hardest part so far, and possibly the dumbest, being I don't really know what I'm doing... is taking my $1500 stimulus money (which was for emergencies/extra food etc, being we live on hubby's $1000 SSD a month) and buying all my supplies for my Resin Art small home business... and, after buying all my supplies, making products (which I've got a ton of) and having to rebuy thing's I run out of, to keep people coming back and looking at my new inventory... I'm making almost nothing back. All my money is going into Resin and supplies. I definitely put the wagon before the horse... maybe? I mean, I am making some sales, but, again... I've spent way more on supplies and product, than I've made in the almost 2 months I've been "open". Maybe all I need is a good website... and that will help me grow? I get asked about "having an etsy" all the time, but I don't want to use "Etsy" or other commercial sales sites. I want to stand alone, be seen an my own creator, not mixed with several other potentially the same type of creators. I don't know, feeling overwhelmed, lost, over spent, completely broke and I'm still trying to get started.... I worry about all the money I spent, and never getting it back to our "emergency fund"... and both of us being disabled, immune compromised and unable to work.... that's a scary thought.