Yesterday, while driving home from getting the kids after work, we stopped at a red light. My son exclaims “Look, Mommy, N – O !”

This is the first time he’s read a street sign out loud, so I’m very happy about this, and respond enthusiastically, “Very good, Nick! You read the sign letters! N-O. No. It says “NO turn on red light! Good job.”

Long silence.

He then asks, “When’s it gonna say, ‘Yes’?”

You’ve gotta love this kid.

Laughing, I replied, “Well, it never will, buddy. But we’re waiting for the green light, and that’s what tells us we can make a turn.”

This is not the first time I’ve written about these driving experiences with my kids. (see Work and Play Don't Mix, Right?). At first, I thought I’d make a note in my mother’s journal, and not on this business blog, but as I reflected back on the conversation, I wondered how many times in business I had been waiting for a sign, and completely missed the mark.

Like that time I waited for a signed contract from a new client, but kept giving free strategic marketing advice. When I finally followed my intuition and sent an invoice, the client refused to pay, stating he thought we were still in the sales/proposal period. Yeah, that actually happened twice. Shame on me.

Or when our office flooded – the third time – and I finally admitted that it was time to look for new space on higher ground. And what about that projector bulb I knew needed replacement, but kept putting it off, and then it gave out the day of “the big meeting”. I realize now that I ignore important signs all the time.

In all those cases, I kept wondering, “When’s it gonna say, YES?”

Yes, you should demand a signed contract before doing any more work.

Yes, you should get out of this mill office – if it flooded once, it will probably flood again.

Yes, you should invest in a new bulb before you really need one. It’s getting dim.

When you are self-employed, there’s no one to tell you what to do. You are the boss, and you are the one who makes decisions. Do you follow your intuition about business matters? If you’ve seen a sign that something needs attention, why haven’t you taken action? What’s holding you back? What green lights are you waiting for?