Out of cash
You ran out of cash after 11 decisions. Most of those calls may have looked reasonable on their own, which is how it usually happens.
Lead numbers soar and the sales team drowns in poor-fit enquiries.
Play againCheck your real numbers
What each decision was about
The big customer wants a discount
You chose: Offer 5% for a two-year contract.
Customer concentration turns every negotiation into a risk decision.
A star leaves for a rival
You chose: Match the offer.
One person holding the relationships is a business risk long before they resign.
AI pitch at the board table
You chose: Announce a company-wide AI program.
AI value comes from a specific workflow with clean data and an owner, not from an announcement.
Slow-paying customers
You chose: Take a line of credit and leave it alone.
Profit and cash are different things, and receivables are often the cheapest cash you can find.
A shiny new market
You chose: Test it with one person and a clear stop date.
Expansion is a focus decision first and a revenue decision second.
The quality problem
You chose: Fix only the ones who complain.
Trust is usually lost in how you respond, not in the original mistake.
Your team is exhausted
You chose: Drop your least profitable work.
Capacity problems look like motivation problems until you measure them.
A competitor cuts prices
You chose: Launch a cheaper, limited version.
A price war is only worth entering if you know your unit economics better than your rival does.
The founder bottleneck
You chose: Hire a senior COO.
A company that needs its CEO for everything is harder to grow and harder to sell.
An unexpected offer
You chose: Hire an adviser and slow the process down.
The best time to prepare for a sale is well before anyone asks.
Marketing wants more budget
You chose: Approve the full budget.
More leads aren't the goal. Knowing what each customer costs you is.