When is the right time to invest for women in business

This is a big question that many women in business struggle with. When is the right time to invest in your business.

The truth is …

The truth is, there is no one right time, no absolute answers for women in business. It’s a question I have been pondering myself many times over the past few weeks as I get ready to make two significant financial investments in my business.

Two types of investment

My view is that there are two types of investment for women in business: time and money. If you are running a part-time business while still working a full-time or part-time job (which is what I was doing at first), you may be richer in money resources than time resources. Your key investment decisions may focus on the best way to utilise the time that you do have available.

However if you have taken the plunge to work full-time on your business, maybe you have the time, and it’s about identifying the best financial investments which will make the most effective use of that time.

The way I see it, you can choose to invest your time and spend 20 hours to discover how to create an effective Facebook Ad, burn the midnight oil crafting fabulous copy for your website, spend hours researching the contact details for HR Directors in law firms or you choose to invest money in learning from somebody else’s mistakes and experiences whether that’s outsourcing or personal development.

The advantage of investing money … yes it costs more. However if it takes you 20 hours to create an effective Facebook Ad that brings in new potential clients, that is 20 hours that you are not earning. To make the maths simple, let’s say you charge £100 per hour:

20 hours effort x £100 ph = £2,000

Are you getting a good return on that £2,000 investment? Or would you have been better to outsource that piece of work or learn from an experienced social media consultant?

How to make the most of your time and your money

The two investments that I made a decision on this week: marketing advice and a business mastermind. Neither investment is small. In my view, when women in business decide to invest in consultancy or expert advice, it makes sense to get the best you can afford. Even better get the best you can’t afford. What? How can you get the best you can’t afford, you’re asking yourself?

Why big investments are more successful

When you make the big investment, the investment that makes you think twice and twice again before signing on the dotted line, the type that makes you almost wince when you think about it, when you doubt ‘Have I made the right decision?’ Guess what. THOSE are the investments on which you will get the BEST return.

Why’s that? Because you will be motivated, you will be committed, you will want to ensure that you get every penny (or cent) out of your investment. When I invested in my first business mastermind more than a year ago, at first I didn’t know how I would make the schedule of payments. However you’ve seen how I have transformed my business as a result. I think the return on my investment speaks for itself.

Whereas when women in business invest small-scale – perhaps an online course, you just don’t have the same commitment. Have you ever purchased a course and not done anything with it? Maybe you worked through the first two or three modules, then your interest waned? Or you have bought books you’ve never read? Signed up for a magazine subscription that lands on the doormat unopened?

You might feel that you don’t have the cash flow to justify investment on a big scale. To be honest, I don’t right now. What I do have is an absolute faith in myself. I know that I will be able to make those first payments on time. Sometimes you’re scared of making those big decisions. Sometimes you’re not sure that you’re even in the right business. Or maybe you’re not sure how you are going to make the business work without it having an impact on family life. I get all of that.

What do I recommend

You have decided that now is the right time to invest. Here are my thoughts on where women in business should put that investment.

In order to run a successful business, you need sales. To create sales, you need potential clients. To get potential clients, people need to know about you. Therefore I encourage you to think about marketing. But it’s no good thinking about marketing you and your business if you don’t yet know what you’re going to sell or who you are selling it to.

Secondly systems. You don’t want to be wasting hours of your time doing repetitive tasks that systems can do for you. Make the technology work for you, not the other way round.

If you are spending too much time on Admin, and not enough time on your business or actually earning money, invest in outsourcing. Find yourself a fabulous virtual assistant and make better use of the time that you do have.

If you lack clarity in any area of your business, my best recommendation is to hire a coach. Preferably one with experience in your field (though a good coach can coach anybody, it does help if the coach understands the terminology and language that you use). If you are setting up a craft business, find a coach who understands craft. You want to run an online business? Find a coach who understands online marketing. If you are a mum in business, talk to somebody who specialises in helping women in business. Oooh, who could that be? Me, of course!

When your business is up and running, join a mastermind. I’ll cover more on masterminds in another post however last year, joining my mastermind was the best business decision I have made.

Food for thought? Is now the right time to invest in your business? If what I’m saying resonates for you, whether you are starting or growing your business, let’s explore how we can work together. Find out how to book a complimentary clarity call here.