Start. Assess. Adjust.
What’s so bad about getting things wrong?
Starting something new often means not having all the answers. Yet somehow, our unrealistic expectations creep in, whispering, "you should have known better."
Let me share a recent experience that got me thinking about this.
A couple of weeks ago, we took a trip to Colorado. We made a last-minute decision to book an Airbnb instead of a hotel. When we pulled up, I’ll admit I was a bit annoyed (no Insta filter on this story 🙃).
Why? No yard (which was kind of the point of not getting a hotel), and all the bedrooms were upstairs - not ideal as Gracie’s an almost 2-year-old who's still wobbly on stairs, and Ellie tends to sleepwalks
Sean noticed my brain churning and explained, “We booked it last minute, and there wasn’t a whole lot available.”
I really wanted to stay annoyed, but I chose not to. “It’ll be fine. We won’t be here that much, and now we know some filters to add next time.”
As I helped Gracie up the stairs for the umpteenth time that first day, it hit me on the business side: we often have to make decisions before we have complete clarity. This happens in business all the time. Let me share some examples:
Underutlized Software
When a client started their business, they went with an industry-specific software. They got to know it enough to get going, but things got busy, so they didn’t dig into other features that could benefit their day-to-day/month-to-month tasks. As the business grew there were a couple of balls dropped. When it was time to assess operations and look at cleaning up some areas, they realized they needed to dig into more of its features because those features could save a ton of time and headaches.
The Event Planning Evolution
When I had The Hatchery, we offered in-person business/personal development classes. We only started with one class a month, so I used my memory to keep track of the tasks it took to put on the event. As we grew into 2 and 3 classes a month, I had created a half-assed Google Docs until keeping track of 3 monthly events was impossible. I talked to a systems expert to get advice on dropping fewer balls, and they suggested looking at Trello. After building out one event, I couldn’t stand it and immediately switched to Asana.
The Hiring Pivot
A client was growing into the next stage of her business, which meant it was time to hire. She had mapped out her services, pulled out tasks she could hand off, put together a job description, and made her first hire. It turns out some of the skills she hired out were actually ones she was the most capable of doing. If the new hire took them over, it would take them three times longer than it would her - and she actually loved doing them. After this realization, she took those tasks back and adjusted the tasks this new hire would take on.
The Platform Pivot
A client started their business and set up their customer experience process in HoneyBook. She set up her services brochure and laid out the templates, the automations, and invoicing, But once she got rolling with client interactions, she realized using Gmail and QuickBooks worked better for her.
These experiences all led to valuable insights. But here's the key: knowing doesn't come from staying still or maintaining the status quo.
It’s not that you’re an idiot or unsuited for business. You simply don’t know what you don’t know and must make the best decision you can for the first step.
Let's give ourselves permission to learn from our initial steps, whether they're perfectly placed or slightly off-target.
Start. Assess. Adjust.
Are you facing decision paralysis in your business? Share your experience in the comments below, or reach out for a consultation. Sometimes, the best next step is simply having someone to discuss it with (and that’s my jam!)