Trust Your Gut (And Check The Numbers)

Being a small business owner means making a lot of decisions. From which envelopes to order to which job candidate to hire to what strategy to pursue – the endless stream of high-stakes (and low-stakes and who-knows-what-the-stakes-are) decisions can feel like… a lot.

In my coaching with business owners and makers, one of these key decisions is usually at the center of our discussion. (Side note: a wise woman once told me that usually, if you stressed or worried, there is a decision that needs to be made.)

That said, the coaching I do isn’t generally about telling the person WHAT to decide or what to do. Rather, I support business owners in getting clear on HOW to decide. Of course, there are a lot of approaches to “how to decide” depending on the specifics of the situation. But there is one useful tool that I find myself returning to over and over again. And it can be seen in the form of a formula:

Numbers + Intuition = Good Decisions.

For instance, Samia was feeling frustrated with her wholesale reps. They weren’t selling as much as she had expected them to and they were making negative comments about her business. She was frustrated, doubting herself while also unsure whether the reps were working at all or whether some were working and some weren’t. And the doubt about the reps was making her doubt her whole approach to wholesale (and, honestly, her whole business). So I asked her to round up the following numbers:

• Total revenue

• Revenue from wholesale

• Revenue from reps

• How much each rep contributed to that total.

The numbers reflected that:

• Samia has a strong, profitable business.

• Wholesale is a large part of her business.

• Rep sales are a small part of her wholesale sales.

• Only a few of her dozen-ish reps have sold a significant amount.
  

Rounding up the numbers was a crucial step. Without that, we are stuck in the land of feelings and drama and guessing and going around in endless mental loops. BUT. The numbers don’t tell us what to do – they just tell us what’s happening.

So here’s where I encouraged this business owner to lean into her intuition. Intuition can help us decide what to do by helping us answer questions like:

• What is clear about the situation overall?

• Are any of the reps “worth it” when you consider their sales alongside the mental overhead of managing them and dealing with their commentary?

• Are the reps likely to increase their sales at this point or is this pretty much how it’s going to be?

• Given what I’ve seen so far, and given where I envision this business in 5 years, do I think that reps should be part of my growth moving forward?

Different people could start with the same numbers and look at the same information and come up with different answers to these questions. Usually that’s because different people have different visions for where they want the business to be, different values, and different experiences that inform what’s likely. That’s perfect. All of these things should come into account when making business decisions.

In Samia’s case, she was clear that:

• Her business was doing well and her approach to wholesale was working.

• The reps were only a small part of the picture and actually are not key to her revenue.

• Only 1-2 reps are worth it and she decided to cut the rest loose.

Making decisions intuitively without first looking at the numbers isn’t wise – it’s too easy to get stuck in your own fears and feelings about what is happening. But pretending that you can make purely analytical decisions based on numbers isn’t wise either – we need to combine the numbers with your internal, intuitive, “gut” sense of how those numbers interact with your vision, values, and experience.

So the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed in your business, stressed about how something is working, or uncertain what to do – try rounding up the numbers and then trusting your gut.

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