It can be challenging to invest in your business, especially if you are in the start-up phase or in a sales lull and money is tight. It’s difficult to figure out if you should save the money or invest in your business some more. The short answer is to invest, but in the RIGHT things. You want to make smart investment decisions when it comes to your business so you aren’t wasting time or money.
The following are some investments you can make in your business if they fit your current needs and they get you to where you want to go in your business faster.
Mentorship & Courses
One of the most common questions I get is on business coaching and courses and if they are really worth it. If you pick the right coach or the right course and listen to the advice, this knowledge can be extremely helpful.
This knowledge can also help you at every stage of business, whether you are a start-up or established business. Just make sure to pick a coach or course that applies to your business and/or business stage.
You’ll throw dollars down the drain if you purchase a course on selling handmade items online and you only provide services. Well, some of the basic principles will apply to both, pick a targeted course/coach for you. Sometimes you will get really lucky and the course instructor or coach will share their systems with you. This is gold!
A good rule of thumb for picking the right coach or course is if they offer the next transformation that you need. For example, if the next step for your business is to get more 1:1 clients, investing in a coach that helps you become more visible with your content and more comfortable with sales calls would be a great fit.
Just keep two things in mind when deciding on a coach or course creator: (1) is this person actually successful in their own field? If they’re worth their salt, they will have proof all over their website and social media accounts. (2) Have they provided the results that you seek to others? What do their testimonials say about them? Pay close attention to these two things, especially if you’re deciding between multiple mentors. You will, some capacity, become those who mentor you, so pay attention!
Systems & Software
How often do you agonise over how little time you have? This might be a sign that you need to get better systems in place, not figure out your next productivity hack. Good systems and software are worth their weight in gold (and some are priced that way!).
I recommend that you research and invest in good systems right at the beginning of your business. This will help you prolong your investment in hiring a team, as well as maximise your team’s time when you do start hiring. It will also help you more easily manage the parts of your business that only you can do but without the pain of having to reinvent the wheel every time.
Likewise, you can elevate the client experience with systems by adding your personal touch once and then setting the process to automate going forward. That way, every client feels well supported and you can scale up your time! I love a good win-win, don’t you?
Trust me, you’ll save so much time and money by putting the right systems and software in place. These are some of my favorites right now:
- ActiveCampaign as my CRM
- ThriveCart for sales pages
- WordPress with woo commerce for my website
- Responsesuite to do surveys (and it integrates with Active Campaign)
- Zapier to help with Integrations
- Asana for task management
- Xero for all things bookkeeping
Human Resources
Hear me out, I don’t mean a big HR company. I mean team members to help with your business, to delegate tasks you don’t have time for or can’t do. These team members can be other service providers, like accountants or lawyers, or employees that work for you and help your business.
It can be difficult to figure out when to expand your employee base, and this will end up being a business decision based on your time and available money. Don’t stop just at the expense though. Consider if a new employee can increase your revenue (or your sanity!). Sometimes the increase will completely cover the initial cost of onboarding a new employee.
Marketing
Marketing expenses are another item that unfortunately gets crossed off the investment list when money is tight. As tempting as this is, please don’t do that! Evaluate your marketing and see if you need to pivot your strategy, but don’t take away the funding.
Spending money on a website and good photography and branding can make a huge difference to your business, especially if you do online retail.
Remember that your website, messaging, and imagery are what most customers see first. You want to make a good impression so you need to invest a bit here. Photography is very important if you sell products online as it is the primary way people can evaluate the product for your website.
As you can see, there are plenty of great ways to invest in your business as you grow. Remember that the best kind of investment will get you a quick return. So as you review this list of ways to invest in your business, which one jumps out at you as returning either money or time (or both!) back to you the quickest?
Unsure of where to start investing in your business? Perhaps you need a “1:1 Coaching” session with yours truly to save you time and give you clarity in the decision making process. Book yours here!