So you read about work-from-home options. You got excited. You started researching.

And now you’re… stuck.

Stuck between three ideas that all sound good. Stuck wondering which one is “right.” Stuck reading one more article, watching one more YouTube video, taking one more quiz to get just a little more clarity before you actually start.

Here’s what nobody’s telling you: The time you’re spending deciding what business to start is COSTING you more than picking “wrong” ever could.

Let me explain.

While you’ve been researching the best work from home ideas, or opportunities, for the last three months, someone else started three months ago with what might have even been the “wrong” idea. But you know what? They’ve already pivoted to the right one. They’ve tested. They’ve learned. They’ve made their first sales. They’re three months ahead of you.

Not because they’re smarter. Not because they knew something you don’t. But because they made a decision and moved forward.

And here’s the truth that’s going to sound harsh but I need you to hear it: Staying stuck in decision mode IS a decision. And it’s probably the worst one you can make.

Because when you’re a mom? You don’t have unlimited time to “find yourself” or “explore your options” for a year. You have nap times and bedtimes. You have those precious few hours a week when you could be building something.

And every week you spend stuck deciding what to build is a week of those hours you’re not getting back.

So let’s talk about how to actually make this decision. Not in six months. Not after you’ve read fifty more articles. Now. Or at least soon enough that you can start testing and learning instead of just thinking and researching.

Okay, so if you’ve ever been in business, in sales, or if you just love a good concept, you might have heard the term “opportunity cost.”

If you haven’t, let me tell you what it means, because understanding this will change how you make decisions in your business—and honestly, in your life.

Let me give you some examples so this makes more sense:

Gambling: If you’re in a poker game and you know your hand won’t win, but you keep putting money in the pot because you’ve already invested so much… that’s opportunity cost playing out. At some point, you need to cut your losses and walk away, or you’re going to lose everything.

Dating: If you’re dating someone you know isn’t right for you, but you’ve already invested a year of your life, so you keep going… the longer you stay, the more opportunity cost you’re paying. Because you can’t meet someone who IS right for you while you’re still with someone who isn’t. You don’t have the emotional bandwidth, the time, or the energy.

Business: If you’re spending all your time doing hourly work but you keep saying what’s important to you is building passive income… there’s an opportunity cost. At some point, you have to cut back on the hourly work to make space for building the passive income. Otherwise, you’ll always be stuck on the hamster wheel.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have unlimited time.

Let me do the math for you:

120 hours is enough to:

But instead, those 120 hours went to reading articles, watching videos, taking courses about how to start, and still not starting. (Use this to get serious about your decision.)

While you’re stuck deciding:

They’re not smarter than you. They’re not more talented. They just decided faster.

And here’s what really gets me worked up about this: the advice you’re finding online about “taking your time” and “getting really clear” wasn’t written for moms with limited time.

It was written for people who can spend a year “finding themselves.” You don’t have that luxury. Not because you’re less deserving, but because you have real constraints on your time and energy.

So the question isn’t “Which option is perfect?”

The question is “Which option can I test fastest so I can get DATA to make my next decision?”

Because here’s what I want you to understand: You don’t need more information from Google. You need information from TRYING.

Traditional business advice tells you to:

And you know what? That advice isn’t necessarily wrong.

It’s just wrong for you.

Because that advice assumes:

So you need to make decisions differently.

You need to decide in days or weeks, not months.

Not because you’re rushing. Because you need to get to the testing phase. That’s where the real learning happens.

You can always pivot. And honestly? You probably will. Most successful businesses aren’t doing exactly what they started doing. They evolved based on what they learned from actually doing the work.

Your business choice has to fit your CURRENT season, not your ideal future season.

If you have a baby or toddler at home: You need something you can do during naps and after bedtime. Probably not coaching calls at 2pm.

If your kids are in school: You have more consistent time, but you’re still interrupted by school breaks, sick days, and all the things that come with school-age kids.

If you have older kids: You have more flexibility, but you still have limited hours and energy.

Your business needs to work in the season you’re IN, not the season you wish you were in.

Some businesses require you to be responsive in real-time. Coaching calls. Client work with hard deadlines. Customer service.

Some businesses can be done completely asynchronously. Courses. Digital products. Content creation.

Here’s the question you need to ask: Which one can handle you disappearing for 3 days because your kid is sick?

Because that’s going to happen. And if your business model falls apart every time life happens, that’s not sustainable.

Don’t plan the whole business. Don’t build everything out. Don’t create the website, the logo, the full course, the complete offer suite.

Plan the SMALLEST test that will give you information.

For example:

Get information fast. Then decide what to do next based on real data, not assumptions.

Other moms know things that generic business advice doesn’t cover:

Non-mom entrepreneurs ask: “Which option has the highest potential?”

Mom entrepreneurs ask: “Which option can I actually EXECUTE with the time and energy I have?”

See? Different question. Different criteria. Different decision.

Alright, let’s get practical. You’ve got multiple ideas bouncing around in your head. How do you actually choose?

Here’s the framework:

Write down every business idea you’re seriously considering. All of them. Get them out of your head and onto paper.

For EACH option, honestly answer these questions:

Be brutally honest here. Don’t answer based on who you wish you were or what you think you “should” say. Answer based on your real life right now.

Okay, this is crucial. This is the concept that’s going to save you from wasting months on something that’s not working.

For each option, BEFORE you start, decide:

Examples:

The point is: Know your exit criteria BEFORE you start.

Don’t wait until you’re six months in and miserable to realize it’s not working. Decide now what success looks like and what failure looks like, and commit to reassessing when you hit that point.

Let me tell you a story to illustrate why this matters…

So I have to tell you this story because it perfectly illustrates why you need to know your decision point before you start.

Years ago, I was in a relationship. We’d been dating for a while, and honestly, I knew pretty early on that he wasn’t the right person for me. But I’d already invested time. We’d been together for months. I kept thinking, “Well, maybe it’ll get better. Maybe I’m just being picky. Maybe I should give it more time.”

I made it three days living together.

Three days.

On day three, I had made him dinner. I was washing the dishes from said dinner. I gave him a little bowl of ice cream with a spoon. He was sitting on the couch in his work clothes watching TV while I cleaned up.

The spoon fell out of his bowl onto his shirt.

And he turned around to me and said, “Why did you not know that the spoon was too big for this bowl?”

And then—I kid you not—he threw the spoon at me.

I walked out that night and never came back.

Now, here’s the thing: I knew before the spoon incident that this wasn’t right. I had ignored multiple red flags. I had stayed past my internal “this isn’t working” signals. I waited until the relationship literally threw a spoon at me to know it was time to leave.

Don’t wait until you’re six months in, exhausted, resentful, and wondering why you ever started. Know your decision point NOW. Know what signals will tell you “this is working, keep going” versus “this isn’t working, time to pivot.”

Because here’s what I’ve learned: whether it’s relationships, business, or pretty much anything else—you usually know when something isn’t right long before it becomes obvious to everyone else.

Trust that knowing. Set your decision points. And when you hit them, honor them.

Of the options that passed your reality checks, which one can you TEST fastest?

Not which one will be biggest eventually. Not which one sounds most impressive. Which one gets you real information fastest.

Because right now, you don’t need potential. You need data.

You need to know:

The only way to get that data is to start.

You’re not choosing your forever business. You’re choosing what to test first.

Commit to 30-90 days of actually trying this thing. Then reassess based on your decision points.

That’s it. That’s the commitment.

Not “I’m building my empire.” Just “I’m testing this to see what I learn.”

Here’s your permission: You don’t have to pick perfectly. You just have to pick something and start learning from it.

Okay, but I know what you’re still thinking: “But Dana, what if I pick wrong? What if I waste all this time on something that doesn’t work?”

Let me reframe this for you.

Here’s what actually happens when you “pick wrong”:

This is data. Now you know this path requires more time or energy than you have right now. You pivot to something that fits better.

Time “wasted”? 30-90 days. Information gained? Exactly what won’t work for you and why.

That’s not wasted time. That’s accelerated learning.

This is data. Now you know this offer doesn’t resonate, OR you’re in the wrong market, OR your messaging is off, OR the timing isn’t right.

You adjust and test again with a different angle.

Time “wasted”? 30-90 days. Information gained? What your market doesn’t want (which helps you figure out what they do want).

This is data. Now you know you need work that energizes you differently. You pivot to something you actually enjoy.

Time “wasted”? 30-90 days. Information gained? What doesn’t light you up, which gets you closer to what does.

This is data. Now you know you’re on the right track but need to adjust the model, the pricing, the delivery, something.

You iterate and improve.

Time “wasted”? Zero. You’re making money and progress. Information gained? What’s working and what needs tweaking.

Every single outcome—even the ones that feel like “failure”—gives you information that moves you forward.

The ONLY way to get zero data is to not start at all.

I can’t tell you how many moms in our community started with one thing, realized it wasn’t quite right, pivoted to something else, and are now thriving.

Started with one-on-one coaching, realized they hated being on calls all day, pivoted to courses, now they’re making more money with more freedom.

Built a service business, realized it didn’t scale, pivoted to a productized version of what they were doing, doubled their income.

Started in one niche, discovered through doing the work that a different audience resonated more, completely shifted and found their people.

You know what they all have in common? They started. They “picked wrong” in some way. They learned. They adjusted. And now they’re successful.

Okay, so you’ve started. You’re testing your idea. Now what? How do you know if you should keep going or if it’s time to pivot?

This is where those decision points you set come in.

Keep going when:

Hard doesn’t mean wrong. Sometimes hard means you’re learning and growing. That’s different from “this is wrong for me.”

Pivot when:

Here’s a simple way to think about it:

If your business threw a spoon at you right now, would you walk out? Or would you stick it out just because you’ve already invested time?

If you’d walk out, it’s time to pivot.

When you encounter these, don’t wait. You already know. Trust yourself.

You know what big companies do when something’s not working? They cut their losses.

I have a family friend who walked into work one day and his entire product line and team were eliminated in one afternoon. The company looked at the numbers, decided it wasn’t working, and moved on.

They didn’t agonize for a year. They didn’t keep throwing money at it hoping it would turn around. They made a decision based on data and executed it.

You can do this too.

It’s not failure. It’s smart business.

And honestly? Sometimes getting laid off, getting the spoon thrown at you, having the clear signal that it’s time to move on—that becomes the catalyst for trying something new that actually works.

Permission statement: Big companies cut their losses when something’s not working. You’re allowed to do the same. It doesn’t make you a quitter. It makes you strategic.

Here’s something I’ve learned after years of running Boss Mom and working with thousands of moms building businesses:

The advice other moms give you is fundamentally different from generic business advice. And you need that difference.

Let me paint you a picture:

Regular business coach: “You need to hustle through the hard parts. That’s how you know you’re committed.”

Mom business coach: “Here’s how to tell if it’s growth pains or wrong fit. Because pushing through the wrong thing just wastes time you don’t have.”

Regular business coach: “Give it at least a year before you pivot. You need to give it time to work.”

Mom business coach: “Here’s how to test in 30-60 days so you can get real data and make an informed decision without wasting a year.”

Regular business coach: “Make a 5-year plan for your business.”

Mom business coach: “Make a plan for THIS season of motherhood. When your season changes, your business can adapt.”

Regular business coach: “Just wake up earlier and work before everyone’s up.”

Mom business coach: “Here are five different time-blocking strategies from moms who’ve actually made this work, and you can pick which one fits your life.”

See the difference?

Like: “I landed a $5K client AND potty-trained my toddler this week!” Both are huge wins. Both deserve celebration. Non-mom entrepreneurs don’t get why that’s equally impressive.

But other moms? They get it.

Let’s bring this all home.

The opportunity cost of staying stuck in decision mode is higher than the cost of “picking wrong” and pivoting.

Moms need to make decisions differently—faster, with different criteria, with the understanding that you don’t have unlimited time to figure this out.

Set your decision points before you start. Know what success looks like and what “time to pivot” looks like. Then honor those decision points when you hit them.

Test, learn, adjust. That’s how businesses are actually built. Not through perfect planning. Through iterative learning.

And you don’t have to do this alone. Other moms who’ve been exactly where you are can help you make better decisions faster.

What if you gave yourself 7 days to decide?

Not 7 days to build the perfect business plan. Not 7 days to have everything figured out.

Just 7 days to choose which path you’ll test first.

Pick one. Set your decision points. Start testing.

Because three months from now, you can either be still researching and deciding… or you can be three months into building, learning, and adjusting based on real data.

If you want to make this decision with moms who’ve been exactly where you are—stuck between options, nervous about wasting time, wondering if they’re making the right choice—join us in BossMom+.

Inside BossMom+, you’ll get:

A community of moms at different stages – from just starting to six figures and beyond – who can tell you what they wished they knew when they were deciding.

Access to trainings on different business models so you understand what you’re really getting into before you commit to testing it.

Templates for testing ideas fast – so you get real data quickly without building the whole business first.

Real stories of moms who’ve pivoted – what they learned, how they knew it was time, what they did next, and how it worked out.

Support when you need to pivot – No shame. No “you should have known better.” Just “okay, here’s what to try next.”

Come make decisions with moms who understand opportunity cost, limited time, and the reality of building a business while raising kids.

Join BossMom+ today →

Stop spending your nap times researching. Start spending them building and learning.

We’ll help you decide, test, learn, and adjust—all alongside moms who are doing the exact same thing.

And remember: Don’t wait for your business to throw a spoon at you. Set your decision points now, trust yourself, and know that pivoting isn’t failing—it’s learning.

You’ve got this. And you definitely don’t have to figure it out alone.

Come build with us. We’ll be here when you’re ready.