Ask Questions 
Share Tips 
List Your Business 
Coffee Talk with Experts 
Biz Planning | Sample Plans 
Idea 
Name 
$ 
Do It! 
Promotional Merchandise
Managing | Operations
Work @ Home 
Yoga @ Your Desk 
|
|
Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
4 Reasons Businesses Should Never Rush Financial Decisions
Business owners, just like consumers, often fall victim to the shiny new toy syndrome. They are easily swayed by new products and crafty sales pitches and consider each and every one of them as a potential purchase. Others will quickly switch service providers or suppliers the minute someone makes them what they see as a sweet deal.
But, even small business decisions can become major ones. Small choices can add up to major mistakes while failing to take all factors into account can result in one serious mistake taking down your business. Here are four reasons businesses should never rush financial decisions.
It Isn’t Just That Decision
Whether someone is buying a new piece of equipment or changes an existing process, the reality is that they aren’t just making a decision about that particular process. Instead, what they’re doing has an impact on the rest of the business. When you alter a business process or implement a new one, everyone needs to be trained on it. This could impact quality, productivity, or both. When someone buys new equipment, it may be necessary to train people in how to use it, and it affects everything else on that assembly line or the flow of the department.
Short-Term Decisions May Hurt Your Long-Term Prospects
Fast decisions, especially when made on the basis of one’s emotions, means you may make a decision that is merely OK now but hurts the business for the long-term. When you make a fast decision, you are by definition failing to consider all of the information involved.
Before you make a business decision, consider the whole picture. What exactly is the purpose of the new tool or process? Are you replacing something or adding to the existing process? How are you going to train everyone, or is it truly intuitive to use? How will you measure success, and when do you expect it to be demonstrated? If you just buy things hoping that it will improve matters, potentially wasting money while creating chaos on the shop floor, you’ll end up hurting your business despite the good intentions behind every purchase.
Then there are times where a business makes financial decisions, and because they rush the making of a key decision, they ignore the potential steps they could take to mitigate the risk. Consult with the financial risk management experts from JCRA whether you are financing major projects, buying property, or raising capital for your business.
Don’t Skip the Analysis
If you let yourself make fast decisions, you risk getting into the habit of succumbing to pressure to decide the way the person making the offer wants you to go. When someone is pressuring you to buy a drink, the cost of a mistake is the cost of a drink. When you’re making a Human Resources decision or another costly business decision, you’re skipping the detailed analysis of risks and benefits.
You’ll Be More Sure of Your Decisions
Suppose the fast decision was the right decision. Because you didn’t take the time to do the analysis, you may feel like it was the wrong choice because you didn’t take everything into account. Now you’re burdened with regret because you didn’t do the detailed analysis to be certain that it was the right choice. You won’t worry if the snap decision undermines your overall business strategy.
Conclusion
While fast decisions in business are not always wrong, you’ll never be certain it was the right decision. So, take your time to run the numbers, compare the pros and cons, and project how each decision impacts the entire operation.
|
|
Small Business Tax Center • Idea Cafe Home • Sign Up • Biz Grant Center • CyberSchmooz •Coffee Talk with Experts • People in Biz Profiles • Starting Your Biz • Biz Planning • Running Your Biz • FREE Trade Publications • Marketing • Financing Your Biz • Human Resources • Legal & Biz Forms • Managing Your Biz • eCommerce • You and Your Biz • Gen X • Work@Home • The Fridge • De-Stress • Send an Award • Send an eGreeting • Yoga @ Your Desk • Web Guide • Idea Cafe in the News • About Idea Cafe • Advertise on Idea Cafe • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Site Map • Small Biz News
Copyright 1995-2023, Idea Cafe Inc. Downloads are for personal use only, not for resale to others, and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from Idea Cafe Inc.
DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages. TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.
|
|
|
|