We service-based business owners often run a pretty lean ship, especially in the earlier years of our business. Which means we want to be sure that where we invest is going to pay off.
When I first started my business I had a redundacy payout sitting in my bank account and spent it on just about every shiny object that crossed my path. I do not recommend this strategy! I wasted a lot of money that way. But when there’s so much out there (tools, training, coaches, resources, communities, memberships…) and every person and their cat telling you you NEED this particular thing, it can be hard to know what to spend on.
One thing that hasn’t changed is there’s always some new/popular/appealing thing, and it’s hard to know what’s going to be the best investment. And for a long time the scars of my early gleeful spendery meant I was too scared to make the wrong decision. I’d get stuck in analysis paralysis and waste so much energy trying to decide that in the end I’d give up, exhausted and decision-less.
how i decide what to invest in for my business
While this is still a work in progress, these days I am getting better at making these decisions. Here are the questions I ask to help me move forward, one way or the other.
Do I want it?
This one seems obvious, I know. But I find this a helpful question to make me pause and really think it through. Am I genuinely interested in or curious about this thing, or am I getting caught up in the excitement of it being new/popular? In other words, am I getting caught up by a shiny object?
Can I afford it?
Another thing I’m learning to move away from in my business is bank-balance accounting – is there money there? Great, can be spent! The truth is, this is short-sighted and can be risky. Now I’m better at forecasting and keeping an eye on expenses I know are on the horizon (for example, I’m travelling to a conference next month which will need some spending money, and most of my subscriptions renew annually which means a bigger chunk going out at one time).
So these days the ‘can I afford it’ question means looking ahead to see what’s coming up (incoming and outgoing) and making a more confident decision about when I spend.
Does it address a gap I’ve identified as a priority?
I love learning and developing new skills, which means I’m at high risk of hoarding resources and training programs. It used to be that if I came across something that was on my ‘gee I’d like to learn more about that someday’ list I would buy. And then… it’d sit gathering dust in my inbox. I’m embarrassed to admit that things I’ve bought have been discontinued by the trainer before I ever opened them – what a waste.
Now, the decision depends on if it’s a topic I want to dig into and I’ve identified as a priority. For example, I am pretty out of the loop when it comes to paid ads these days and I’d like to learn about it. But it’s not something I want to offer to clients and I don’t have time to meaningfully implement what I’d learn in the foreseeable, so I’m not going to invest in any resources on that topic.
On the other hand, I recently signed up for a writing course because a) I write a lot, for myself and clients, and I always want to improve and refine what I create, and b) this course has a particular focus on inclusive writing. As a cis-het white woman who grew up in regional Victoria I know there’s a lot I’ll be getting wrong here and it’s important to me that I learn to do better. So this course addressed things I’ve identified as shorter-term priorities so it was easy for me to say yes.
Bonus tip for software and tools
In online business land there’s dozens and dozens of tools and software that could help us provide a better service. So how do you choose? Like I mentioned before, everyone will have their own favourites that they insist will change your life. It can be really tempting to opt in to heaps of things, but before you know it you’re spending hundreds each month on these subscriptions that all add up.
My friend Sarah at Knock on Wood reminded me of this one recently. When you’re tempted to invest in some new thing that solves a problem, first check in on the tools you already have and pay for. Are you using them to their full capacity? Chances are you’re not (I know I’m guilty of this!). So before you disappear down a rabbithole, check in to see if something you already have will do the thing that you need.
So there you have it. A simple process to help you invest with clarity and confidence!
