My favorite Disney cartoon is Alice in Wonderland. I love many of the characters but the best is definitely the Queen of Hearts. When Alice meets her, she says she has lost her way and the queen is quick to correct her. After all, as a queen, or a business owner, “all ways are my ways”.
What do I mean about the business owner? Well, regardless of how interested a business owner is in other people’s opinions, at the end of the day, all decisions are your decisions. Even if you don’t make a decision, that is still a decision you made. If you delegate the decision to someone else, you still have a hand in it because you both gave them the responsibility and they will make the decision with some thought as to what you want.
Some business owners embrace this and run with it. Others constantly ask other people for advice and hate to pull the trigger. Regardless, if you are going into business, you need to know if you can handle making all those decisions. Some will have to be quick. Others you can consult. And yet others you want to have several key advisers on board before you decide. But at the end of the day, you have to live with your decisions.
So when people ask if they are a good fit as a business owner, my first question usually has to do with decision making. Do you need all of the alternatives in front of you before making a choice or do you go with the first one that fits? How long does it take you to make a decision? How do you weigh other people’s opinions – strangers and friends? Understanding this aspect of yourself can go a long way to determining if you will enjoy being a business owner. And just for the record; I own a croquet mallet used by the Queen of Hearts in the cartoon.
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