As stated above, strong and committed leaders are essential for defining a project and deciding if a feasibility study should be conducted. Informed leadership with enlightened self-interest and a commitment to group action is needed. Leaders must maintain a strong focus on the decisions to be made and be able to create an environment where participants are encouraged to be active and involved in discussions, creativity, and decision-making.

For a project to succeed, all potential members of a new cooperative business venture must be kept informed about project details as they evolve so that they buy into and feel committed to the project.

To assist with decision-making, those on a steering committee should ask two questions: (1) If a bad decision is made, what would be the cost? and (2) If no decision is made, what would be the cost? If the cost of making a wrong decision is relatively small, do not spend much time, money, or effort on the decision making process. On the other hand, if the cost of committing an error could be large, it's better to put more resources into determining the pros and cons of the decision and defining all of the issues before choosing an option.

In practice, this is not always easy to implement given the different personalities involved and the personal preferences for making decisions. Some may be slower to learn, need more time to contemplate before making a decision, or have aversions to high risk. On the other hand, some members may want to go ahead and make a decision before relevant information has been gathered and fully assessed. Balancing diverse aspects within a group can be difficult, but working to do so is paramount.

Thus, decision-making often is one of the greatest initial challenges that a group faces in developing a project. Figure 2 presents some guidelines to assist groups with the decision-making process. Given the difficulty in making decisions, some groups or individuals try to avoid it. There is always more information that can be gathered, but there is also a cost to taking more time to deliberate. A decision must be made when further investigation costs more than new information is worth.