How to Research Before Taking Important Business Decision

As a business leader, you might suffer from the sense that you’re not always making the optimal decision to benefit your business. That’s not to say that you’re not best-placed to make the decision, but sometimes boiling it down to one individual’s experience, know-how and intuition might seem inappropriate for decisions that will have a significant impact on the direction and success of a business. With that in mind, this guide takes a look at four ways in which you can share the re-sponsibility, pooling opinions in order to make a more informed decision for your company.

1: Business owners should always be prepared to outsource, and in decision-making (or at least in recommendations), the same rule applies. Expert forecasters and planning specialists will be able to give you helpful nudges in the right direction in order to ensure that you're taking your business in the optimal direction with each and every decision you make. They’re perhaps best used for the biggest decisions, but turning to an expert now and then who can audit your business procedures can be no bad thing. Instead, it’s the sign of a healthy business to be reflective and self-critical.

2: Other than using paid specialists, you’ll also be able to tap into your network of business con-tacts to ask them for advice. Draft a document to send to your most trusted contacts briefing them on the situation in which you feel you are struggling slightly, and request their feedback, advice and wisdom to help steer you in your decision making. There’s no shame in reaching out in this way, and you’ll likely have helped a contact in need in a similar situation. Even if you only ask one or two trusted advisors, it’s better than going it completely alone.

3: For decisions that relate to your customer or your clients, undertaking focus group research is one of the best ways to go to get some feedback ‘from the horse's mouth,’ as it were. It’s a com-mon strategy undertaken by larger companies who are perhaps less in touch with the general view of the public they serve, but it’s equally a savvy idea for smaller companies who want to check they’re got their finger on the right pulse. It’s inexpensive and simple to set up focus groups through experienced third parties; they’ll do the legwork and will deliver the goods.

4: Most businesses are not run at all like democracies, but in some cases taking a decision to your workforce can have multiple benefits. It’ll empower your workers, it’ll give them more of an idea as to the decisions you’re ordinarily required to make, and you may well find that the ‘wisdom of crowds’ means that the ultimate decision that your staff reach is in the best interests of your com-pany. It’s advisable not to make a habit of asking your staff for their opinions, but as a one-off it’s a sign that you care about their views, opinions and intuitions.

These four tips should help you out of a stick in which you’re struggling to make a decision concerning the future of your company.