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John's question:
"I'm in a dilemma. I have a well paying, secure job
with a prominent company. It's not that I dislike my job,
but I feel restless, like I could be doing better working for
myself. I have an opportunity to take over some else's
business, and I think I could expand it to where it would be a great
moneymaker. But I'm torn as to whether I should stick with the
tried and true or take a chance on this opportunity?"
Dear John,
You have a classical decision situation that has both elements of
high risk and high opportunity. If you quit your job and
your venture doesn't pan out, you may not be able to get back in the
door of your old or a similar job. That is the risk part
of the decision. The opportunity part is that you get to
be your own boss and build a business. Since you are
dealing with powerful needs, you need to proceed cautiously but
deliberately. You don't want to make a decision that
has costly consequences too quickly, and at the same time, you don't
want to move too slowly and miss the opportunity.
To frame this decision I would suggest the following: You are indecisive, because you want to purse this opportunity without loosing the good deal you already have and you do don't have enough information to be certain. Decisions get easier as you wrestle with them, so don't be too quick to give up the agony of the decision just yet. The more insightful you become regarding this new opportunity, the more certain you become of its potential and how well it fits with your interests. Remember, you will have to live with this new business for some time. So, it had better have potential to fulfill your interest, even give you a sense of pleasure doing the work. Ask yourself how can you get more comfortable with this potential new business opportunity? Can you work with the owner of this new business after hours or on the week ends to see how you like the business and also its growth potential. The best time to make a decision is when the decision is obvious. By the time the decision becomes obvious, you not longer are wrestling with the decision, but have started to investigate out how best to implement it. At this point, you have unconsciously transitioned from thinking... to doing.
