What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do
Being an entrepreneur presents numerous situations you don’t immediately know how to handle. And when these situations arise, of course, you can’t go to your supervisor. So what is an entrepreneur to do?
If you have a network of professionals, a lawyer, accountant, computer consultant, and so on, you can turn to them for help in their areas of expertise. But unless you have an unlimited budget and they have unlimited patience, you can’t turn to them for advice on the majority of the decisions you need to make. For example, should you take on a particular client? Can you get a particular project done according to the proposed schedule? Can you bring it in within the quoted price? What should you do about an overdue bill? Are you going to use the same print shop you used last time even though you weren’t totally satisfied with them, or should you take the time and the risk to find a new one?
The decisions entrepreneurs face are endless and relentless. Sometimes it can seem that 90% of our time is spent on problem solving and decision-making. And we have to resolve most of them by ourselves. Well, problem solving and decision-making is great when you know what to do. Below are some guidelines for those times when you may not.
1. First, admit that you don’t know. It’s OK.
2. Assume something effective can be done. The answer is out there somewhere.
3. Trust your intuition. Don’t let your mind get hung up on insignificant details. Sometimes that small voice inside does have the answer.
4. Focus your attention away from the problem and on the desired result.
5. Brainstorm multiple possibilities on how to achieve the desired outcome.
6. Let it stew for a while. Take a break from it. This will give your subconscious mind a chance to work on it. Some of the most productive ideas and solutions were obtained this way.
7. Talk it out. Find someone to brainstorm with about the concern(s). Get feedback. Stew again.
8. If all else fails, act. As a rule, it’s better to do something than nothing. Try something. Test out some of your possibilities, hopefully, in a small way, and assess your results. Even if it doesn’t work, the results may suggest to you what to do next. Or, at the least teach you what not to do.
Remember: “School is never out for the pro.”
Davette Harvey, The Woman with the Plan!
