The 5 Decisions That Stall More Businesses Than Anything Else

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Welcome back to Amplify and Act. I'm Meagan Van Woert, and today we're shifting gears into a new series. We're going to be talking about five decisions that stall more businesses than anything else, and I'll be doing three consecutive episodes to talk through them.

I've seen these decisions come up again and again with my clients — across all industries, across all revenue levels, with businesses that have been around for a really long time. So let's get right into it.

The Hook

You've survived the startup phase. You've proven the model you're working in. So why do certain decisions keep coming up and blocking you from getting to everything else?

These aren't random. They're predictable, and they show up for a reason. Here are five decisions that stall your business more than anything else. Hold on to your hat, because these are good ones. I'm confident that at least one or two of them will come up for you — if not all of them.

The Teaching — Decision 1: The Pricing Decision

The first decision is the pricing decision. You may have known you're undercharging for a long time. Maybe there are certain areas of your business where you know you're charging the right amount, but there are new services — or older services — where you need to revise the pricing. Some of you have a service-based model. Some of you sell products. It's different for everyone.

The fear of losing clients can keep you from adjusting that pricing, whatever it is. Something may be resonating for you right now. Meanwhile, you're trading your time for less than it's actually worth — whether that's the time you're spending with a client or the time you're putting into a product or service.

Here's the kicker: what keeps you stuck is conflating your price with your worth.

When I think about this, I notice the trap is that you don't want to miss out on a certain sale or opportunity. Or maybe you don't want to miss out on a particular connection — the chance to work with someone specific. That has come up many times for my clients. "I really want to work with this person. I'm energized by them. I really want to make this product for them, even though it's custom and will take a long time and they have a budget." It's hard to say no, or to hold the firm price, when you're running into those personal constraints. It's hard to overcome if you're stuck in your mind, keeping a price for what it is based on what it's actually worth.

Another way I love to think about it: how is this reflected as growth in your business? We make a lot of small and big decisions for our businesses. The more you get comfortable thinking about the amount of time and personal investment that goes into your product or service, the more clearly you can see where your worth shows up — and how much you should actually be getting for it.

So that's the first decision you may be stuck on. It happens to all of us. I can think of three or four clients right now who are struggling with this. I've been in business for over 20 years and I've constantly struggled with it myself. When I was first getting started, I built websites for $500 — and I still build websites today. Think about how many hours go into that, even after 10 years of experience. For friends or family, I sometimes wanted to help people out. Eventually you have to just say no, or say, "I really need to be charging this for the website." You have those conversations with yourself.

We all have examples that come up and resonate. You're not the only one going through this. You have people like myself and others to help you work through these decisions — whether it's boosting your confidence or helping you identify your self-worth. That's all part of the process, and it's very healthy.

The Teaching — Decision 2: The Hire-or-Not Decision

Decision number two is the hire-or-not decision. You may need help. You may be convincing yourself you're almost ready to hire — and "almost" has been the answer for the past 18 months.

What keeps you stuck is the fear of being responsible for someone else's livelihood.

One of the things I love to think about: what would your business look like moving faster? What revenue might you be missing out on? It's interesting to ask, "If I hire, what is actually going to be delivered at the end? What is that person going to be doing? What value are they going to deliver, and is it going to be worth it?"

Instead of sitting in fear of the responsibility, be intentional and think about the strategy up front. Evaluate the responsibilities you need someone else to handle. Identify what they are. Think about the hours involved. Getting that information out and in front of you helps eliminate the fear of making the wrong decision. Once you're confident in those decisions, it really helps boost and promote the growth of your business.

Think about how much faster your business could be moving. Think about missed revenue. I love to consider: if I had one person do this thing for me, or if I hired a service to do this SEO work, or if I hired someone to help me make better decisions — I could move much more quickly. Think about the confidence that gives you as a business owner. Think about the personal and professional growth that follows.

These are all aligned to your goals. If you have a goal to generate revenue, to execute a new product or service, to grow your business in some specific way — hiring someone, investing in a service, whatever the right move is — that's what can actually move your business forward and re-energize you as an owner.

What keeps you stuck is the fear of not knowing what's going to happen, or of being responsible for the output. But when you have confidence and a framework up front, you'll really feel the energy that follows.

The Teaching — Decision 3: The Service Clarity Decision

Decision number three is service clarity. I love this one. As a business, you may offer too many things to too many people. Narrowing down feels like leaving money on the table — but it's actually the opposite.

What keeps you stuck here is the belief that more options equals more revenue.

I've learned this the hard way over the past several years, and I'm thinking of another client who runs into it constantly. The shift is choosing to do one or two or three things really, really well, instead of offering more things just to look knowledgeable or talented. People don't actually care about that. People want to know that you're really good at what you say you do. And if you say you do those one or two or three things, they're going to know you're really good at them.

It allows your business to shine — whether you sell products or services. It also lets you focus on a specific skill set, design, product, or service and get really, really good at it. And guess what happens when you get really good at something? You don't spread yourself too thin. You become more successful. You become more profitable. You have more eyes on you because you've built a name for yourself around doing those things well, instead of offering eight different services where you're just mediocre.

I've seen this time and time again — with service-based clients and with product-based makers — where spreading thin dilutes the really good work they're doing. So consider: how does that resonate for you? The belief that more options means more revenue is a decision we run into often.

If overextending isn't a problem for you right now, another reflection is: should I take on more to add value to my portfolio or service offerings? If it's aligned and it genuinely adds value, you can absolutely consider that. But the question is whether you're staying focused in a way that generates the revenue you deserve — versus spreading yourself a little too thin.

The Teaching — Decision 4: The Exit-or-Double-Down Decision

Decision number four is the exit or double-down decision. Here's the pattern: something isn't working the way you hoped. You haven't fully committed to fixing it or letting it go. So it just continues — and lingers in your business.

What keeps you stuck is the sunk cost — the things you've invested — and the identity wrapped up in a thing that just isn't working.

One example that resonates with a client of mine: she makes custom products, and they take an enormous amount of her time. The same dynamic applies in service-based work. Say a custom product takes her 10 hours and she's charging the same as for a standard one. The decision she's avoiding is, "I really shouldn't be doing this custom product anymore. It's taking twice the time and I'm getting the same revenue." That's the decision where you are the decision maker. You're letting it linger — instead of saying, "I'm not doing this anymore."

That's the exit decision. If you're doubling down instead, you ask, "What do I need to do to make this more efficient? Do I want to keep this?" You say, "I'm willing to put in the 10 hours, but I can't charge X anymore — I need to charge Y." Those are the decisions: I'm not going to do this anymore, or I am going to get the value and the worth for doing this work.

This comes up so often, and it's hard to make these decisions on your own. I just want you to know you're not alone. Every business owner struggles with this. There are people here to help you work through it. There is hope, I promise.

The Teaching — Decision 5: The "What Do I Actually Want" Decision

Let's talk through decision number five. I love this one for so many reasons. It's the "what do I actually want" decision.

This one sits underneath all the others. Until you can answer it honestly, the other four are harder than they need to be.

What keeps you stuck is the fear that the honest answer requires a change you're not ready to make.

I've faced this personally a lot over my career. It could be a professional decision. It could be personal. As a creative entrepreneur, I've always had ideas — things I wanted to do, ways to make money, customers I wanted to connect with, products and services I wanted to offer. And when you spread yourself thin, you aren't as productive. As we talked about: getting paid your worth, becoming a master, doing something really well — that all comes down to the "what do I actually want to do" conversation. And that's a decision we have to make for ourselves.

One of the best ways to tackle this — and I do it religiously, annually — is to have an honest "what do I actually want" decision. You could do it every six months for your business. I have these conversations with my clients quarterly as Strategic Decision Sessions: "Okay, what are my goals? What do I actually want for the next three months? What do I actually want in the next six?" For my own business, I do it annually. I do it myself because I'm disciplined enough to.

You think about the time you have in your day. You think about the goals you have for your business. If you have a sense of strategy, great — you can layer strategy in. But you can take strategy out almost entirely until you make these decisions.

So — how do you actually make decisions around what you want? Start with a list: what's important to you, and why? Have that honest conversation with yourself. What matters most, and why? Then prioritize.

There are a lot of ways to run through this exercise, but once you hold the time to do it, you can re-energize yourself. From there you can make time management decisions about how much to invest in each thing. And the things that are less important — even letting go of one thing — it is so empowering to say, "I'm not going to spend my time on this, for these reasons."

I do this as a business owner, and it feels so good to know I've sat down, written things down, prioritized, and made strategic decisions for myself and my business — and also for that personal happiness. Whether it's revenue-based or "I'm going to focus on what's most important right now." You can do it quarterly, every six months, or annually. It's up to you. If you haven't done this, I highly encourage you to consider it. It's a really important thing.

The Real Talk

I want to highlight this: most of these decisions feel like business decisions, but they're actually personal ones. That's what makes them so hard — and it's why they're so important.

Think about which one of these is on your plate right now. Which one resonates most. The next two episodes of the podcast are going to go deeper on the two hardest ones — pricing and hiring. We're going to get more into that.

What surprised me most about these decisions is that it's almost always the same five. I get energized about this — you can probably hear it in my voice — because these come up in your business at different times and in different ways. Some of them land a little harder than others. But these come up for everyone, across all industries, across all revenue levels, and again, across all years in business. They come up over and over.

There's a pattern underneath all five: they're not really business decisions. They're honest conversations owners haven't had with themselves. The decision isn't hard because it's complicated. It's hard because it's honest.

I can fully admit to that. It's easier for me to have these strategic decisions with myself now because I've recognized the value in doing it. I sit down and look at myself in the mirror and ask, "What's the honest approach I want to take for my business, for my personal life?" It feels so good when you can sit down by yourself — or with someone else — and dig into the details. It's really powerful work.

The Action

Here's what I want you to do. If you've listened to Episode 4 on the lead domino, look at your list. If you haven't listened to Episode 4 yet, go back in the podcast and listen to it.

Which of these five decisions that you've learned about today is your lead domino right now? Write it down.

For anyone who doesn't know the lead domino exercise: you write down four or five decisions that are top of mind, you grade them, and you prioritize based on the rankings. Write down which of these decisions is most relevant for you right now. We're going deep into it over the next two episodes.

The Close

I hope this was insightful. I hope you're energized to think about which of these decisions is top of mind for you right now. If you need any support, do not hesitate to reach out. This is why I'm here — to share my expertise, give you these tips, and support you where you need it.

Until next time, I want you to amplify your thinking. You can do it. And I want you to act on it.

Next week, we're going deep on the pricing decision — the one I see stall more established businesses than almost any other. Until then, have a great rest of your week. I look forward to seeing you all soon.