09/04/2026
I don’t know if other business owners struggle with this, but I do.
Sometimes the answer is easy. Sometimes I genuinely want to say yes.
But then there are the times when I know saying no is the right decision for my business, and somehow I still have such a hard time actually saying it.
It can be a donation request. Someone asking for a discount. Someone asking for something for free. Even another vendor at an event asking if they can just grab one piece of candy.
And when I know the answer needs to be no, I feel it.
I get a pit in my stomach. I think about it WAY longer than I probably should. I go back and forth with myself. Sometimes I let an email sit because I don’t want to respond. And even after I finally say no, I can still find myself questioning whether I made the right decision.
Was that really such a big deal? Was I being rude? Does saying no make me look bad? Am I disappointing someone? Should I have just done it? It was only one. It was only this one time.
And suddenly I’m carrying around a business decision like it was a personal one.
Donation requests are probably the biggest one for me. They can sit in my inbox and fester. Have they supported my business? Have I donated to them before? Is this something I really want to support? Does saying no somehow say something about me as a person?
Meanwhile, that request may have been one of 50 sent out that morning.
And here I am still thinking about mine.
That’s the part I’m trying to get better at.
Not every no from my business is a no from me personally.
Sometimes it’s simply what’s right for the business.
I’m curious if other business owners struggle with this too. Do you feel the guilt and second guess yourself, or have you gotten really good at saying no and moving on?
