Should I keep going, pause, change direction, or close my business? If every option feels loaded, give each one the same questions before you try to choose.
A decision worksheet will not tell you which answer is right. It can show where you have facts, where you are guessing, and what you need qualified help to understand. The useful outcome may be a better conversation rather than a final decision today.
Start with the decision and the real deadline
Write one sentence: “I need to decide whether to continue operating in the same way for the next three months.” Then record any actual deadline, where it comes from, and what happens if you wait.
Separate an external deadline from the pressure to make uncertainty disappear. A lease renewal, an upcoming commitment, and the thought “I should have figured this out by now” are different things. Verify the dates and obligations rather than relying on memory.
Compare four options on one page
For each option, write what it would mean in your business. “Pause” could mean stopping new orders while maintaining existing obligations; it does not automatically suspend contracts, taxes, or other duties.
- Continue: What would staying the same require, and what evidence supports doing so?
- Change direction: What specifically would change? What would it cost in time, money, and effort to test?
- Pause: What could stop temporarily, what must continue, and what would restarting involve?
- Close or transfer: What information and professional help would you need to understand an orderly exit or possible transfer?
You are listing possibilities, not committing to any of them. Cross out an option only when you can explain why it does not fit.
Ask the same five questions of each option
- What do I know? Record checkable information about sales, costs, workload, capacity, and commitments. Put the date beside each number.
- What am I assuming? Name uncertain expectations such as a sales increase, available help, or a low-cost restart. What would let you check them?
- What would this require from me? Include working time, personal capacity, household stability, and the work of making a change.
- What obligations need review? List questions about customers, employees, leases, debt, taxes, inventory, and ownership. Bring the relevant records to qualified advisers.
- What information could change my view? Identify the missing answer that would most affect your comparison.
Use a concrete example
Imagine an owner considering a smaller product range. Instead of writing “simplify the business,” the owner lists the products involved, records their current costs and sales, checks outstanding customer commitments, and asks an accountant what information is missing.
That does not prove a smaller range is the right choice. It turns a vague possibility into something the owner can examine. A limited test may be worth discussing, but only after checking whether it is feasible and what obligations still apply.
Prepare one useful conversation
Choose the person whose expertise matches the question. An accountant, attorney, business adviser, and supportive friend do different jobs. Send a short description of the decision and ask what records would make the meeting useful.
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s closure and sale guidance explains why an exit needs planning and qualified advice. Use it to identify topics to investigate; this reflection worksheet does not replace a closure process or advice specific to your business.
Finish with an action, not a forced verdict
Complete this sentence: “Before I decide, I will find out ___ by ___.” It could be arranging an appointment, checking a commitment, or collecting current records. Review your comparison after that answer arrives.
Open the free decision planner to organize your next action. Your entries stay in your browser. Continue with Start With the Question and When Your Business Becomes Your Whole Identity.
Need to make the support around the decision clearer? Download the free support checklist, or get new articles by email.
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