The Hardest Business Decision I Ever Made (And Why It Saved Me)
By Andrea Russell
The hardest decisions in business are never about strategy.
They're about identity.
Who you're willing to become. What you're willing to let go of. How much you're willing to trust God when the next step makes absolutely no logical sense.
I've made a lot of hard business decisions. But one stands above the rest.
Not because of what I chose. But because of that, I almost didn't.
And if you're standing at a crossroads in your business right now, wondering if you're brave enough to make the decision you already know you need to make, this is for you.
The Decision That Terrified Me
In 2012, I started ACR Bookkeeping Service Plus LLC.
It was safe. Stable. Something I knew how to do. Clients came. Bills got paid. Life continued.
But something was missing.
I knew I was called to do more than bookkeeping. I had a message. A framework. A burning desire to help Christian women entrepreneurs build profitable businesses without the guilt and the shame that had nearly destroyed me.
But coaching felt risky. Vulnerable. Like trading something solid for something uncertain.
So I stayed safe. I kept doing what I knew. I told myself I'd "get to it eventually."
And eventually kept not coming.
Until 2020. When a global pandemic shut down everything familiar and I found myself face to face with the question I'd been avoiding for eight years:
What are you waiting for?
What Waiting Actually Cost Me
Here's what I wish someone had told me about waiting for the "right time":
The right time doesn't exist. It's a story we tell ourselves to avoid the fear of being wrong.
Every year I waited to step fully into coaching was a year of women who needed the Surrender, Overcome, Align & Rise Method going without it.
Every year I played safe in bookkeeping was a year of impact deferred.
Every year I told myself I wasn't ready was a year I chose comfort over calling.
And when business feels heavy and you're stuck between where you are and where you're supposed to be, staying safe is not the neutral option it feels like.
Staying safe has a cost. It's just a cost you pay slowly, in installments of unfulfilled potential.
The Moment I Finally Decided
2020 changed everything.
The pandemic forced me to confront what I'd been avoiding. And in that forced stillness, God was very clear:
The time is now. Not when it's comfortable. Not when you feel ready. Now.
So I made the decision.
I launched Journey to Business Success Inc.
I became a Certified Business Made Simple Coach and a Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist.
I started coaching business owners who needed my skills.
And I was terrified.
Not because I doubted the calling. But because fully committing meant I could no longer play small and call it humility.
It meant owning the gift. Stepping into the authority. Building the platform.
It meant being visible when hiding felt safer.
What Happened When I Said Yes
Here's what they don't tell you about hard decisions:
The fear doesn't go away when you make them.
But something more powerful shows up: momentum.
The moment I fully committed, things started moving. Clients came. Opportunities opened. Doors that had been closed for years suddenly swung wide.
Not because the path got easier. Because I finally stopped straddling it.
My clients have now generated over $15 million in collective profits.
I've become a 7x bestselling co-author and author.
I've been featured in Success Savvy Magazine, Inkubator, and Becoming An Unstoppable Woman.
None of that existed when I was playing safe in bookkeeping.
All of it was waiting on the other side of the hardest decision I ever made.
The Decision You're Avoiding
I don't know what your hard decision is.
Maybe it's leaving the corporate job to build your business full time.
Maybe it's raising your prices to what your work is actually worth.
Maybe it's pivoting away from the business model that's keeping you busy but not profitable.
Maybe it's investing in coaching or a mastermind when it feels indulgent.
Maybe it's stepping fully into your calling when staying safe feels smarter.
Whatever it is, I want to ask you something:
How long have you been standing at this crossroads?
How many years have you been telling yourself you'll do it when the time is right?
How much impact have you deferred in the name of being responsible?
Because here's what I know from living it: the decision you're most afraid to make is usually the one that changes everything.
The Question That Cuts Through Everything
When I'm facing a hard decision now, I ask myself one question:
"Ten years from now, which choice will I regret more?"
Not which choice is safer. Not which choice makes more sense right now.
Which choice will I regret more when I look back?
The answer is almost always the same:
I'll regret the times I didn't trust God enough to step forward.
I'll regret the years I stayed comfortable when I was called to grow.
I'll regret the impact I didn't make because I was too afraid to try.
And when business feels heavy and the decision feels impossible, that question cuts through everything else.
Your Next Step
Whatever hard decision is in front of you, you don't have to make it alone.
The S.O.A.R. Mastermind is designed for exactly this moment.
For women who know what they need to do but need support, accountability, and community to actually do it.
Join the waitlist and let's make the hard decisions together.
Email andrea@journeytobusinesssuccess.com with "DECISION" in the subject line.
Because the hardest business decision you'll ever make might just be the one that saves you.
Just like it saved me.
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