I undertook quite a project this fall when I purchased a grand old home that had been converted to office space years ago. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was charmed by the beautiful woodwork and hardwood floors.

I knew it could be the perfect place for my office, but it definitely needed a facelift. The colors were dull, the kitchens and bathrooms were dated (I don’t even want to talk about the urinal in the upstairs bathroom), and the floors were worn. But I knew it could be transformed. (Some of us fall in love with “possibilities.”)

I had a vision of how the finished building would look and jumped in.

I chose contractors and paint colors, then made the rounds of antique stores, looking for interesting tables, mirrors, and other fixtures to complete the vision.

My first purchase was an old table to replace the seriously ugly vanity in the narrow downstairs bathroom. Just the right size and shape for the small space, with graceful legs and stretchers, I could picture it painted glossy black, topped with a vessel sink and an ornate mirror.

But here’s the best part. It was only $50! It would be a stretch to call the place I found it an antique store. More like a “collectables” store. Okay, more like a flea market. Nevertheless, here was the perfect table at an unbeatable price. What a find!

I sanded, painted, distressed, steel wooled, buffed and polished until it was perfect.

Then came the time to move it from the workroom into the bathroom so that the plumber could set the sink the next day. Only one small problem: the table wouldn’t fit through the bathroom door. Okay, so we’ll take the door off, no big deal.

Now we could get it into the narrow bathroom, but it couldn’t be turned to sit flat against its freshly painted wall. We tried everything — lifting, turning, sideways, vertical andndash; but unless this table could magically bend, it couldn’t be placed where I had planned. I thought all my hard work and pretty plans were about to go down the drain.

In the words of Jim Collins, it was time to face the brutal facts. I had three choices. I could start over and find a smaller table for the bathroom. I could cut a hole in the wall (hmmm, old plaster wallsandhellip;not a great option). Or I could cut the legs off the table so that I could get it turned into position, then glue the legs back on.

I took a deep breath, got the saw, and just kept telling myself, “It only cost $50. It only cost $50.”

It worked! If you saw this table-turned-bathroom-vanity today, tucked firmly in its place with its vessel sink and ornate mirror, you would never know what happened.

Cutting the legs off the table was a risk. Maybe the legs would be sturdy, maybe not. Maybe the table would be ruined, maybe not. But it worked. Maybe I was lucky. Let’s just say I’m a big fan of Gorilla Glue.

I bet you face those kinds of situations every day in your businesses.

You have an idea, a vision. You can picture how it will turn out. You plan, you measure, you work hard.

Then you hit a bump in the road. Things didn’t go like you planned. You hit an unexpected obstacle. A key employee leaves. A competitor comes to town. Costs go up. The market shifts beneath your feet.

Now what? Do you go forward or pull the plug? Do you pursue your vision or give up? Do you play it safe or take a risk?

A few important questions help you evaluate the risks you face:

• How important is your vision? More than any other factor, a bold vision is what fuels taking a risk. Take a hard look at your vision and your strategy for accomplishing it, then ask yourself, does this risk, more than any other, move you closer to your vision?
• What are the alternatives?
• What happens if you don’t take the risk? Can you still accomplish your vision?
• What exactly are you risking? Can you live with the loss?
• What can you do to mitigate the risk? That doesn’t mean settling for less. It means doing all you can to make the risk pay off.
• How will you know when the risk is too great?

Life throws us curveballs. When you’re faced with a risk, look at all of your alternatives. Weigh the options. Weigh the risks. Look at best case outcome. Look at worst case scenario.

Then make your move, with no regrets.

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