Decision-making 101

I have a hard time making decisions. Whether it’s a bigger decision about committing to a marketing program, or just deciding which type of coffee beans to buy — I always have a tough time making up my mind. And based on the sheer number of articles and books on the subject, I know that I am not alone. Just Google “decision making” or type that into the search bar on Amazon.com and you will see what I mean.

Businesses have to make large and small decisions all of the time, and there is always a deadline. Opportunities, including businesses and open franchise territory for sale, will eventually disappear, potential hires will eventually take another job, and prices will almost always go up. You may have seen this article on drug maker Sanofi’s deal with their competitors Pfizer and BioNTech to help manufacture their COVID-19 vaccine What an enormous decision that must have been, in fact, according to the article, this was “the first time in history” that a drug maker agreed to help a rival manufacture their vaccine. Sanofi has been trying to develop their own COVID vaccine. When they realized their vaccine was not yet ready, they decided to allow their direct competitors, companies that had already successfully developed effective vaccines, to use their manufacturing facilities to produce more doses.

Of course, this is good news for Europeans waiting for the vaccine, and Sanofi is almost definitely hoping to profit from this venture both financially and by getting some positive press. However, there are potential drawbacks as well, and I imagine that some people at Sanofi disagreed with the decision and voted against it. How do companies like Sanofi move forward with a decision of this magnitude?

As it turns out, there are some basic principles of decision making — a process — that can be applied to both large and small decisions. One article I found to be particularly helpful identifies 7 steps to take when trying to make a decision, and states that if you do these things, you are “perfectly prepared to choose.”

When I guide people in a franchise search, my favorite step is #4 — “weigh the evidence.” As a former lawyer, the abundance of unbiased evidence you can gather when you research a franchise was what drew me to this industry 11 years ago. Franchisees are unbiased and can help you “identify potential pitfalls…and weigh those against the possible rewards.” The process is there — you just need to know what to ask them.