**Chapter 5: Making Decisions Together**

|**Reasons to Adopt the Practice**<br>We found that shop owners who have an open attitude to discussing matters with family members or friends in business or outside of it earn higher profits.<br>Shop owners who said they were open to receiving inputs and who made decisions together with others on any business matter were associated with monthly<br>sales that were 25% higher than the sales of shop owners who did not consult on business matters. In addition, their profits were by 27% higher.|
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|Shop owners who consulted with others on the topic of which new products to offer for sale had 30% higher monthly sales and 35% higher monthly profits<br>compared to shop owners who did not.|
|Shop owners who decided jointly with others on which new practice to implement in their business made monthly sales 26% higher than the sales of a business<br>whose owner would insist to make decisions alone. In addition, monthly profits were 27% higher.<br>Two minds can hardly know less than one. This is especially true if the other person differs in their ideas, intuitions, and ways of thinking or if they have<br>expertise different from yours. By including your business partner, co-worker, or spouse in the process of making decisions about the shop, chances are they will<br>become more involved and thus be of evengreater use.|
|It is the most cost-effective way to improve your business. Think about all the things you can do to improve your business. Most come with costs attached or at<br>least some major changes. Consulting others, discussing business matters, and making decisions together is an inexpensive alternative. By exchanging ideas and<br>cooperating with others, you practically benefit for free.|
|**Step-by-step Implementation Guidance**<br>Before we start: Topics to discuss or decide on together. In our survey of 1300 shop owners in Jakarta, we found that many already discuss business matters with<br>their spouses, friends, or suppliers they trust. Most use the opportunity to exchange ideas about sales, selling and purchasing prices, as well as which products<br>are most profitable or sell best. They discuss which products to start offering for sale and where to acquire additional capital (e.g., bank offers or government<br>programs). Moreover, shop owners report discussing discount policies (which discounts to give, to whom, when, and how much), product quality, reliability of<br>suppliers, marketing and promotional offers, and general market trends. Beyond these topics, we strongly recommend discussing business practices.|
|Step 1: Observe or discuss expertise and define clear roles. The first step in finding out what could be worth discussing apart from the above mentioned topics is<br>to see where you and your co-worker/spouse differ in expertise. Once you know where you differ, you have identified a good discussion topic, you are sure to<br>complement each other’s knowledge.|
|Step 2: Dedicate time for quick feedback. Once you have thought about topics to discuss, whom to discuss them with, and have assigned responsibilities so as to<br>benefit from everyone’s expertise, it is a good idea to set out a routine for feedback. It is not easy to break old habits, and so reserving a specific time of the day,<br>preferably towards day’s close when you make plans for stocking up, for feedback can help. Just take a few minutes every day to walk over to your friend or to<br>discuss the most important topics in your shop with your co-worker or spouse.|
|Step 3: Keeping records helps. It may happen that your co-worker or spouse has the feeling that a specific product is selling particularly well without<br>being able to explain. He or she may feel the demand for a product is changing with seasons or in the run-up to holidays but has no way to back it up.<br>Keeping records and updating them whenever sales happen is especially useful here. If both of you keep updating your records, they will both be more<br>comprehensive and will serve as evidence in cases like this. Have a look into your records and see whether the actual sales prove your feeling right.|
|Step 4: Ask someone outside your family. Finding people outside the family will increase the chance of having more diverse input and different ideas.|