Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You refuse the offer and keep the recipe.
One of the great things about being a chocolatier is being able to work
with chocolate and other ingredients to make new creations. It's like
an art form. And the ability to change things on your own timetable appeals
to you.
You also like building your business and knowing that your clients and
customers can depend on you every time they need your chocolates -- much like
the chocolatiers of the old world who owned their businesses for a lifetime.
Over the next couple years, your business grows more slowly than it would
have if you had taken the offer. But your corporate clients stay with you
and the number of your new customers continues to grow. You also have begun
to develop new product lines that are taking off.
So when a second offer, for more than three times that of the original
amount, comes from another company a few years later, you can take the offer
knowing you're ready and your client list won't suffer. In the end,
you've made a good decision, and your business is better for it.
"I've done a lot of research on my own," says Karyn Matson, a chocolatier.
Matson has spent a lot of time deciding what moves she wants to make with
her business. "And I've tried to maintain a steady, controlled growth.
But every day is a new decision. And some of them are tough to
make."