🔹 The importance of questioning assumptions in business

🔹 How unchecked assumptions can block major breakthroughs

🔹 A personal story of learning to listen and adapt

🔹 Five common assumptions that may be holding your business back

🔹 Actionable steps to challenge and test assumptions

"Hi there, I'm Amanda Bedell, your Business Chaos Sorter! Thanks for joining me on this episode of Ask Amanda on Her First Million. Today, we're tackling a crucial aspect of business efficiency—why questioning assumptions can unlock breakthroughs you never saw coming."

Amanda shares a powerful story from when she ran a food manufacturing business.

🗣️ “Thanksgiving—hands down the biggest three days in a baker's life. We were anticipating our biggest sales day ever. But then, a frustrated baker came to me and said, ‘Why are you moving everything around so much? It’s hard for us to get started when we don’t know where anything is.’”

This moment was a wake-up call. She realized that despite her best efforts to optimize production, she had ignored critical input from her team.

💡 Lesson learned?

"I fixated on finding the perfect way—when in reality, I was the bottleneck. When I finally stepped back and empowered my team, we came up with a solution I would have never found on my own!"

Amanda breaks down five common assumptions that can stall progress:

1️⃣ "We've always done it this way."

• Just because something worked before doesn’t mean it’s the best way now.
• “Challenge this by asking: ‘Is there a better way?’”

2️⃣ "It worked before, so it’ll work now."

• Markets change, technology evolves, and customer needs shift.
• “Encourage your team to re-evaluate old methods against today’s reality.”

3️⃣ "It’s too complicated to change."

• Change can feel overwhelming, but ignoring it is riskier.
• "Look at the long-term gains instead of just the immediate disruption."

4️⃣ "Our team can’t handle the change."

• People resist change when they don’t understand its purpose.
• “The key is to involve them early, provide training, and support their growth.”

5️⃣ "We can’t afford to experiment."

• Testing new ideas doesn’t have to be expensive.
• "Start with small, low-risk experiments to learn what really works."

Amanda shares practical ways to test your business assumptions:

🔹 Ask better questions: “What would happen if my assumption was wrong?”

🔹 Gather real data: “Numbers don’t lie—use analytics to validate your beliefs.”

🔹 Seek outside perspectives: "Talk to your customers, employees, and mentors."

🔹 Experiment & adapt: “Try something different and see what happens. Small tests can lead to big wins.”

"Business breakthroughs are often hidden behind what seems obvious. If we stop questioning, we stop growing. So keep questioning, keep evolving, and I’ll catch you on the flip side!"

📌 If you found this episode valuable, share it with a fellow entrepreneur and hit that subscribe button!

Mentioned in this episode:

Her First Million Podcast Outro

Her First Million...

Welcome back to Her First Million Podcast!

Today, we’re diving deep into leadership, accountability, and how to stop feeling like you're babysitting your team.

I sat down with Erik Berglund, a leadership expert who has cracked the code on getting people to actually do their jobs—without micromanaging.

If you’ve ever felt like you have to remind, nudge, or straight-up do things yourself because your team isn’t stepping up, this episode is for you. Erik shares five game-changing accountability questions that will help you build a culture where your people own their work—and you can actually breathe. 🙌

💡 The Three Ways People Fail at Work

Let’s keep it real—there are only three ways someone can mess up in business:

1. They don’t do it at all.
2. They do it late.
3. They do it badly.

That’s it! Yet, as leaders, we act like the possibilities are endless and waste time overthinking. Erik says the trick is knowing exactly what to say when people drop the ball—and that brings us to his five magic questions.

💡 The 5 Accountability Questions You Need

Next time someone on your team doesn’t deliver, instead of getting frustrated, ask:

1. Can we talk about that? (Because getting their buy-in first avoids defensiveness.)
2. When did you realize you weren’t going to get it done? (This helps pinpoint where things went wrong.)
3. Why do you think that happened? (A little self-reflection never hurt anyone.)
4. What can you do differently next time? (Boom. Growth mindset.)
5. Can you go finish it now? (Because, yes, they still have to do the thing!)

👀 Why Leaders End Up Babysitting Their Team

Amanda shared a personal story from her bakery days (spoiler alert: she was unknowingly undermining her own staff by stepping in too much). We talked about how leaders often create their own chaos by overstepping, instead of letting people figure things out and take ownership.

💡 How to Fix It

• Stop reminding people—let them fail (gasp!) and learn from it.
• Give feedback in a way that builds trust, not fear.
• Ask your team how they want to be held accountable. (Seriously, just ask. It makes a huge difference!)

💬 “Accountability feels like persecution to someone who’s never been held accountable before.” – Erik Berglund

💬 “If you always step in to fix the problem, your team learns they never really have to finish the job.” – Amanda Bedell

💬 “We’ve conditioned people to operate a certain way in our businesses, and it’s up to us to shift that conditioning if it’s not working.” – Amanda Bedell

🚀 Books to Check Out:

• Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions: A Tactical Playbook for Managers and Executives

🚀 Ever feel like the secret to success in business isn’t one-size-fits-all? 🤔

As ambitious women, we've paved our way in a world primarily designed for and by men. But at what cost? From adopting strategies that don't align with who we are, to feeling the burnout from playing roles that don't fit—enough is enough! 💥

🌟 Join your Business Chaos Sorter Amanda Bedell for a LIVE conversation with Hepsie Goodin, a leadership and marketing consultant on a mission to revolutionize business with the "feminine economy." Learn how to STOP working like a man and START thriving with sustainable leadership strategies. 🌺

Hepises top reads are:

Brené Brown's Dare to Lead: https://brenebrown.com/book/dare-to-lead/

Jennifer Armburst's A Proposal for a Feminine Economy: https://sister.is/selling/the-proposals

👉 Follow Hespsie Goddin at https://www.instagram.com/hepsiegoddin/

And for those of you ready to make your first or next MILLION, jump into the HER FIRST MILLION 5-Day Focus - https://5-dayfocus.com/go

Where I show you the proven steps and the exact framework to build a business reaching 7-figures consistently.

So if you’ve been in business for at least 3 years. You may have hit the wall... or, you’re like me, in my bakery business, hitting $2MM annually but working ALL THE TIME!!

... Or, if you're around the $500K a year with dreams of what that $1M business looks like on you.

All you have to do is follow the proven steps. And I’m going to show you - for free.

Just give me 60 minutes a day for 5 days and you’ll walk away with a seven-figure framework you can use now and into the future.

This is a total immersive educational experience on Zoom; interacting with me in real time.

Experience connection in a room filled with like-minded people excited to help each other collaborate and grow.

And, the only way it gets done is with unwavering accountability. You’ll have simple, achievable steps each day that will keep you going on this goal...

...so that at the end of the 5 days, you’re not only inspired and supported but have taken massive action that will be felt for months, if not years to come.

Click here to enroll today: https://5-dayfocus.com/go

Your future awaits. I can’t wait to see you on Day 1.

And, if you like what you hear…

Please remember to subscribe and hit that notification button to stay in the loop on the next episode of HER FIRST MILLION.

Until next time, here’s to your success.

Website ☞ www.herfirstmillion.show / www.BusinessChaosSorter.com

Facebook page ☞ https://www.facebook.com/BCCBusinessConsulting

YouTube ☞ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2sOgkpTvF3wFuE4l8UoR1Q

Instagram ☞ https://instagram.com/bizchaostocalm?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ

LinkedIn ☞