One of the best and yet most challenging things about starting a business is the freedom to create your own world from scratch. There are simply too many choices:

What kind of business? What should I name it? What kinds of products or services? Should I have employees? How will I fund it? Online or retail?

You can waste a lot of time trying to prioritise and make decisions even on the simplest things. So, how do you make decisions as an entrepreneur?

For example, for this company I had 260 logo designs to choose from. How would I decide which one?

Personally, the hardest decision for me so far was choosing which business to start in the first place. I’ve been writing down business ideas in my journals since 1998, and I’d already had three businesses earlier in my career.

When I decided to start The Refoundry, I had considered the circular economy industry for a while. However, it took months of intense, solid research to decide on the company and narrow it down to the products we currently have in the design for manufacturing (DFM) phase.

Now, even though I’ve already made that decision, I’m still tempted by other opportunities that come to me. The only thing that keeps me on track is the company’s mission – to help Mother Nature by making great products out of recycled product.

What about this other great idea to be made of recycled timber? NO!
How about this app that will go well with your first product line? NO!
We can make it cheaper if we use virgin plastic instead? NO!

While it might not help my decision about a logo, notice how much easier it was to make strategic decisions once I settled on the mission for the company?

So, if you ever have so much entrepreneurial freedom that you’re struggling to make big decisions, try establishing one important rule like a mission statement. You’ll see how restricting your freedom of decision will suddenly make it much easier.