In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley shares a practical decision-making framework for choosing between competing business opportunities. Drawing from his own dilemma of hiring either a Director of E-commerce or a Director of HR, Josh outlines six key questions across two categories: assessing revenue creation, business leverage, and risk protection, then evaluating downside risk, upside potential, and feedback speed. He emphasizes that true business faith means disciplined, strategic action rather than blind risk-taking, helping entrepreneurs confidently prioritize the best opportunities over merely good ones.
Bullet Points:
- Decision-making framework for evaluating business opportunities
- Importance of prioritizing between competing good, better, and best options
- Role of faith in business decisions as disciplined and strategic action
- Dilemma of hiring between a director of e-commerce and a director of HR
- Immediate vs. long-term impact of hiring decisions on business growth
- Core questions for assessing business opportunities: revenue generation, leverage, and risk protection
- Risk and reward analysis: capped downside, upside potential, and feedback speed
- Personal examples illustrating the decision-making framework in action
- Emphasis on informed decision-making and strategic focus
- Encouragement to share insights with others in the entrepreneurial community
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction to the Decision Framework
The host introduces the challenge of choosing between good, better, and best opportunities and presents his decision-making framework.
00:00:58 Host's Background and Experience
Josh Hadley shares his background as a man of faith, family man, and successful e-commerce entrepreneur across multiple platforms.
00:01:54 The Current Business Dilemma
Josh explains his current challenge: choosing between hiring a Director of E-commerce or a Director of HR for his business.
00:04:16 The Principle of Faith in Life and Business
The host discusses faith as a core principle, using personal examples like marriage and children to illustrate taking calculated leaps.
00:07:19 Business Examples of Faith-Based Decisions
Josh relates the principle of faith to common business decisions like product launches, influencer marketing, and choosing sales channels.
00:09:08 Decision Framework Part 1: The First Three Questions
The first part of the framework is introduced: Does it create revenue, create leverage, or protect the business downside?
00:11:08 Applying Part 1 to the Director of E-commerce Role
The host analyzes the Director of E-commerce position using the first three questions, concluding it checks all three boxes.
00:12:50 Applying Part 1 to the Director of HR Role
The Director of HR role is evaluated against the first three questions, showing it meets fewer criteria immediately.
00:15:05 Decision Framework Part 2: The Final Three Questions
The second part of the framework is revealed: Is the downside capped, what is the upside, and is feedback fast?
00:15:40 Applying Part 2 to Both Roles
Both the Director of E-commerce and Director of HR roles are compared using the second set of three questions.
00:20:45 The Importance of Studied Decisions
Faith is defined as disciplined strategy and planning, not impulsive action, which this framework helps facilitate for business decisions.
00:22:15 Case Study: Launching a Hero Product
A past example of choosing a higher-risk, higher-reward product launch that led to exponential growth for the business.
00:24:05 Case Study: Expanding to TikTok Shop
How the framework helped prioritize TikTok Shop over other sales channels, leading to rapid success and viral growth.
00:26:08 Case Study: Prioritizing Shopify
The decision to focus on Shopify over other marketplaces by calculating its massive upside potential, which was quickly validated.
00:27:28 Summary of the Six-Question Framework
The host recaps the complete two-part, six-question decision framework for choosing the best business opportunities and encourages listeners to apply it.
Links and Mentions:
Tools and Frameworks
"Decision Framework Questions": "00:09:08"
"Second Decision Framework Questions": "00:15:05"
Websites and Sales Channels
"Amazon": "00:01:00"
"TikTok Shop": "00:01:00"
"Shopify": "00:01:00"
"Walmart": "00:01:00"
"Etsy": "00:01:00"
"eBay": "00:01:00"
Concepts and Principles
"Recruiting and HR Management": "00:03:13"
"Faith in Business": "00:04:16"
Personal Experiences and Examples
"Hero SKUs Launch": "00:22:56"
"TikTok Shop Success": "00:25:13"
"Shopify Launch": "00:26:08"
Transcript:
Josh Hadley 00:00:00 The most difficult choices in life and business are rarely decisions between good or bad opportunities. Rather. The most difficult choices are between good, better and best opportunities. Faith is not just a principle of saying yes to something and moving forward rather most often. Faith is a principle of being able to know what you're saying yes to, while also saying no to maybe five other things at the exact same time. To ensure that you are prioritizing the true right opportunity that is meant for you. Today, I'm going to share with you the decision framework that I utilize to choose between those good, better, and best options that sit in front of us on a daily basis as business owners. Welcome to the E-com Breakthrough Podcast, I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own e-commerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business.
Josh Hadley 00:00:58 My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I'm a man of faith. I am a husband to a beautiful wife, and I am also the father of four children. I have been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, doing over $20 million in revenue and selling multi millions on three different sales channels such as Amazon, TikTok, Shop and Shopify. And I am also the host of the number ...
