Ep. 021: Deciding Which Business Investments are Right for You
Investing in your business and your growth is vital to your success, but choosing business investments can be terrifying. There are so many options, at different price points, to solve various problems. How’s a person to choose and not waste a ton of money in the process?!?
I share how to think about investments, how to decide which ones are the right fit for you at the right times, and more! And I’ll share a little about investment mindset vs. scarcity mindset and how it can transform your business.
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Erika Tebbens: Today's episode is going to be all about thinking about investments for your business. So what things to invest in when to invest, how to invest all of that good stuff, because I know a lot of times for women in business, we feel like we have to somehow struggle.
All by ourselves and we should be able to do everything ourselves. And honestly, that is just not accurate and it's not really wise to do either. So I'm going to read a little bit of something just to kick this episode off. That was an article in Crain's, which is a business paper. And this is by Adam's son, halter, and Jackman, Sini of maximum value partners.
They're talking all about the mindset of investing and they're talking about for business owners, whether they have an investment or a scarcity mindset, and you could also look at it as growth versus lack mindset. So they say that some ways to figure out if you have an investment mindset, are that you're not all about the money, so you can still be frugal, just spend wisely.
You think longer term. So usually in years or decades, you find reasons to do versus not to do things. You listen with the intent to understand, and you live in the present and the future. And for people who have scarcity mindsets, they tend to approach things from the framework of you're all about the money.
So if you're cheap, you won't spend it all. You think short term, typically in days, weeks, or perhaps months, you find reasons not to do versus to do things. You listen with the intent to dismiss and you live in the past. And then they go on to say that from a big picture standpoint, the investment mentality starts with everything being possible.
That doesn't mean you have all the answers yet, but it does mean you stay open to possibilities. The scarcity mindset often misses solutions because the owner is focused more on what can't be done versus what can be done. Try adding the word yet to the end of whatever statement you're making to help transition your mentality from being scarcity focused to being investment-focused.
And so then they give an example where they say if your go-to phrase for any of these situations is we don't have money for that. Try adding the word yet to the end of that statement and see if it doesn't help change your mindset a bit, that one word frees you and your team to become problem solvers.
And I absolutely love this because I have seen firsthand the difference of in clients that have a growth and an investment mindset. Versus a lack and a scarcity mindset and not just clients either, but even people who are potential clients or people who I chat within the industry. There's just always a big difference that I see between, like, if you look at somebody's business over the course of six months between people who refused to spend any money or very little on improving their business, versus those who do, it's just, it's always a really shocking and eye-opening to me, what a vast difference there is between those populations.
And I know when I see in my clients just. Even from the confidence perspective of showing up and saying that they are valuable and their businesses are valuable and worth investing in the transformation from that alone is huge. So you know there's a lot of things to consider in running your business.
And I, you know, never advise that somebody just go out and they put themselves in a really scary precarious financial situation. But we have to start looking at our businesses like how an actual CEO would look at working in a company or anything along those lines and feel less guilty and fearful about getting the help that is actually going to propel us further a lot sooner and with a lot less struggle.
So there are a few ways that I like to look at a business investing and how to decide when to do it and what you actually need. So first, the first thing that you want to do is assess where your pain points are and where you're at in your business and where you want to go. So this might not always be the easiest thing to do because, you know, we're all really close to.
Our own businesses, but you can just start like free form brain dumping on a piece of paper, some stuff that feels like a real challenge for you right now. And also look at your goals and assess, you know, maybe how many clients that you need to work with. Or if there's a new program you're trying to start or whatever it is, just dump it all out there.
And because then once you, once you kind of know like where you're at and where you want to be, it's going to be a lot easier to assess what is going on. Right? So let's say you are somebody who is fairly new to your business and you've never run a business before. And you're like, I feel so in over my head, I feel like as I write this list, I don't even actually know what all of my pain points are because I don't know what I don't know.
And that feels terrifying. Right. So maybe you're like, I know this thing I sell, or I know this thing that I want to sell. And but I don't know how to sell it. I don't know anything about branding. I don't know who my ideal client is. I don't know any of that. Right. So you might need something more holistic that is giving you some business fundamentals, or you might be somebody who is a bit more established and you're like, Yeah, I'm getting clients and I love working with them.
All of that feels really good. I just need help getting more people into. The top of my funnel, like I just need more warm leads or I need a bigger visibility strategy or something like that. So those are two different problems that can be solved, right? Because one, you might need a business coach or a business course.
And the other, you might just need a, like a marketing expert or maybe you need a social media manager or an ads person or something like that. So there's different ways to solve your problems. And it's a good idea to know what you want to work on first. And then it's important to figure out how you learn best and what you can commit to because ultimately there's a lot of really amazing things that you can invest in for your business, right? But if you're not going to commit to it, if you're not going to actually do the work, then it doesn't matter if it's the. Greatest thing under the sun, and it's going to perfectly solve your problem. If you aren't willing to do it, then. Don't waste your money on it, right? So think about, you know, where, where are you at and what do you need?
Are you somebody who is really, really great about self-paced learning? Like, would you be better served by a course that you can do over a period of time? And that you can kind of go back and check in on different modules and do it in little bits and pieces, or use somebody who really thrives on accountability.
Or you really just need to talk one-on-one with like a coach or a mentor or something more along those lines. Right. Because not everyone is going to be good about being a self-paced learner and depending on what it is like, you might be able to take a course on how to grow your email list. And that might be fine, but if it's something different that is more like business growth strategy, you are probably going to need something that is a bit more personalized to you and your specific business and your specific goals.
So figure that out and then think about people you already know in the industry who you already sort of jive with that offer the help that you're looking for, or ask for referrals. So if there are already people that you follow on social media or people you've already interacted with, or people that you know, in real life or that your friends have worked with, or they know, or they recommend those are great places to start. Now, there's going to be different things about each of them, right? So let's say there are. Again, like you've decided on a course and there are different people who offer different courses on that thing you can look through and also do a deeper dive into what does the course come with? Like, what is the format?
Does it also have like a private Facebook group where you can get help and support or, you know, is it, does it take you six weeks to go through? Or can you get through it in one week? Or, you know, whatever, like whatever the case may be. Each of us is going to have different things that we are going to be attracted to in an offering that aren't always based on price, right.
It doesn't necessarily mean that you're always going to go with the cheapest thing because something that is $1,500 versus a thousand dollars, $500 difference, isn't that much in the grand scheme of things. But that $1,500 course might have so much more in it that speaks specifically to what your issue or your problem is right now, or it has a different level of support or something.
So that is something to consider. And a lot of times I will say with courses, it's, that's more of just a looking at the sales page and kind of assessing it. Usually people won't have discovery calls to get you into course because the course is meant to be more passive income for the course creator.
So again, depending on what it is, there might be an option for that, but really usually it's going to come down to looking at the features and benefits on the different sales pages. Now if it's something that is more like coaching, consulting, mentoring, anything like that, then usually there will be some sort of a discovery call process or a sales call, some way that you can look over what the offer is.
Usually those things will still have. Some type of a sales page, but it might just not have the buy now button. So for instance, for my success squad or my one-on-one work, there is no buy now button. There is a button to schedule a call with me. And then when you click that, there's an intake form on the backend.
So I can. Assess before we get, before we even get on to zoom to have that call, I can see kind of where you're at, what you're struggling with, what your goals are, and maybe make a just initial assessment of if this is going to be the right fit for you or not, right? So in that regard, you usually, especially for something that's like a higher investment, right?
You'll usually get a little bit of time to actually chit chat with that person and feel like, you know, does it seem like they understand me? Does it seem like they can help me? If this is somebody that I'm going to be working with for the next few months, does it, do I feel like they kind of have the personality that I'm going to want to work with over an extended period of time. Right? So there's several of those things to consider. And one thing that you can do, especially if there is a discovery call process is you can actually jot down some questions that you want answered ahead of time that then you can ask on.
That call usually for things like this, a lot of times there's some sort of price point or at least like if it's a done for you service, a lot of times people will say, you know, starting at whatever. So at least from the get-go you should be able to also see if it fits relatively within a budget.
But yeah. This is sort of like the last little thing to consider. And that is that sometimes you might be stretched when it comes to the investment. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Right. So before I dive into that, I just want to say, like, if there's something about it that doesn't feel right to you, you shouldn't ever invest in something just because you feel guilty or feel like you should, or.
Maybe the sales page is like making you kind of feel bad about yourself. And if that doesn't resonate with you, don't do it right? Because at the end of the day, you want to feel good about the investments, even if you had a bajillion dollars to spend. And the thing you're investing in is just going to be a tiny fraction of your over of your overall money.
You still want to feel good about it, right? You still want to feel like it's a worthwhile investment. So, this is a really good time to go with your gut also to look at, you know, so already you have to feel good about that person. I feel like in my opinion, at least on some level you have to feel good about them and about giving them your money.
Then it's also good. Usually people will have some sort of. Social proof on their website or the sales page. So things like testimonials or anything like that. So that is good to look at as well to see. Okay. What are other people saying? Or are there other businesses like your business that have invested in this thing and then found it to be worthwhile?
Right. And are all the features and benefits? Are they things that feel like they are going to help you solve? Maybe, I won't say all of your current problems, cause that could be challenging just depending on whatever it is that you're looking into, but at least if they can solve that one problem that you are currently experiencing.
So go through all of that first and then you might have two or three different things in front of you to consider in terms of investing. And I will say also that you should look at an investment as there should be a good ROI there. So a good return on your investment, right? So I'm going to give a perfect example before we dive much deeper into deciding how much you can and should invest in your business.
So A friend of mine, she's an amazing conversion copywriter. She is on my list of people to hire in the future. We had a great discovery call several months ago. About setting up a different funnel process, a different nurture sequence for people when they get on my list, I have zero doubt that she is incredible at what she does.
In fact, I know she's incredible at what she does. I know about her because she is a friends of a good friend of mine in business, and she's very highly recommended. Right? So. I know she does quality work. I know it's, she's somebody totally worth investing in. And when she quoted me the price to do the work on that funnel sequence, I was like, okay, let me think about what the ROI is on this.
So like, if I invest in this, how soon can I make that money back? And what I realized was was that, even though I know that those emails and everything she could do for me would be excellent. I didn't have any strategy in place at the time, any like aggressive strategy in place to actually drive traffic to my list.
So it was like, I was putting the cart before the horse. Right. So, I could have spent thousands of dollars with her and I could have this beautiful, incredible nurture sequence for people. But if I'm not driving people to even get on my list to experience the nurture sequence, then there's not really any ROI there.
Right. So it would be smarter for me to do something else to get something else in place first, like let's just say having a, like a Pinterest manager, right. Paying somebody who does Pinterest strategy to drive people directly to my list. So once I'm getting people directly to my list, All the time, like on a, you know, daily or weekly basis, then I can see how the current funnel that I have set up the current sequence, how that is working, because I will actually have enough data to test it.
And then I could spend my money more wisely. So let's say I had. You know, several hundred people getting on my list every single week, then it would be worth it to say, okay, now I'm going to do this different optimized nurture sequence. So that way I can really take advantage of the money that I would get back from that sequence.
So hopefully that all makes sense. But that would be one thing of like, I could say like, Oh my, you know, my nurture sequence isn't converting or whatever in the way that I want it to. So I need to optimize that when really my pain point at the start is I don't even have enough people going to that list to see what working what is working and what isn't working, because the way I've been doing things so far is leveraging the power of personal connection. So while I do have some people on my list and periodically more people get on my list as I go into Q4, I'm going to be more strategic about actually growing the list. So that would have been at least temporarily money, not well spent for me had I gone that route.
So here is how to look at the money aspect of it, which is. I would argue the scariest part of it, right. Because we, we never want to feel like we've just wasted money, especially if it's money we feel like we almost don't really have to begin with. And I'm very open and honest about the fact that when I was starting this business, because I had always done product based selling. That's what my background was in. I didn't want to waste a lot of time figuring out how to get everything set up for a successful online business. So right away before I had any money coming in, before I had any clients, I hired my own coach who was already well-versed in running a successful online business.
So that way I could pay for a shortcut, right? So it was money I didn't have, it felt incredibly terrifying, but I knew that in the long run, the ROI and the quick return on investment would be better if I was allowing a professional to guide me so that I would make fewer mistakes and I could earn more money faster and get to where I wanted to be sooner.
So to me, the trade-off there even though it felt scary, was worth it. So now that I have this, I just invested in something new for my business. It's quite a large investment and I'm looking at it in the same way. So I've already gotten to a position where I'm like, I feel great with where I'm at but now I want to get to the next.
Level, and I know that I'm smart enough and I know that I'm capable enough to learn a lot and figure out a lot on my own, but I don't want to waste the time. I would rather pay for the shortcut to get there faster, right? With, with somebody, with some professionals who are guiding me and putting me on the path with a lot more.
Assurance and confidence and smart thinking than what I could figure out on my own, through a ton of trial and error. So I feel like this is, again, like back to what I was saying at the beginning, where a lot of women will feel like, no, I just, you know, I'm smart and I should be able to do this and I don't want to invest the money.
There are a lot of ways that you can get money by the way for investing in your business. I know in the past with previous businesses, I've used kiva.org, which is a really awesome organization and I've even helped a client of mine get a Kiva loan for her store. So there are, there are places to do it. There are ways to do it. I won't go into all of that here and again, ultimately like you can always reach out and ask ask me questions on that, but I'm not a professional financial advisor or anything. And ultimately the decision is up to you. But the way that I view it for myself is that. If I, if I were like a dude running a brick and mortar business, let's say what I hem and haw and think that I had to do absolutely everything on my own and work myself to death.
Probably I would figure out other ways. Right. I would figure out. Ways to get money to invest. I would invest in people. I would invest in systems. I would invest in good professional advice. I would do all that. So I want to treat my own business the same. And again, what I see between people who do invest and people who don't it's night and day.
So you know, and I'm, I'm totally not one of those people. Who's like, you know, If you cared enough, like you adjust, you know, you would just go get a credit card and you would just do whatever. And obviously you don't care and obviously you're not serious about your business. Like, I hope that, you know, especially if you've been following me for, for a while, I am not that person, but I am also the person that is going to push you a little bit and challenge you a little bit too.
No, that it is not a sign of weakness to need help. So another way that you can invest, if you're like, well, I, I just need an extra set of hands. So my business is a VA, right? Even for a few hours a week, just having some help from somebody else who is a professional. Who can take some work off of your, to do list is a great idea.
So for instance, this whole last year, I haven't been paying for any type of like coaching or mentoring or anything like that, which was very intentional. I wanted to do some more work in my business this year, then on my business. But along the way I have invested in more like done for you, people and VAs and stuff like that, who could actually help me get more of my own work taken care of so I can focus more on the stuff I love and the stuff that I'm really, really good at.
And then I knew going into this next year that I really wanted that higher level strategic help. And so I was planning to start after the first of the year, but a really cool opportunity came along for a mastermind. And so I joined and we we get started in September and I'm really, really, really looking forward to it.
But again, it feels like a scary amount to suddenly be partying with every month, but I know that the ROI will be there. So it's always a good idea. You know, again, if you have any, any questions about any of this, you can always find me on Instagram. I'm there pretty much every day at Erika Tebbens consulting. So go ahead and find me there.
Tag me, send me a DM. I love to meet people and chat with people. But how this plays out for me in my own business is when I do a discovery call with somebody, then I am able to kind of assess for them because it's very important to me that people spend their money wisely. So if I feel like they are a great fit for my sell it sister course, like if they are really new and they need help on the fundamentals of business and maybe their budget is really, really limited and they don't feel comfortable investing more than a couple hundred dollars a month right now, I am going to say, you know what, Sell it! Sister is a really great option.
For you as long as you're somebody who is okay being a self-paced learner and you don't need a ton of personal accountability right now if there's somebody who still wants the help and the knowledge from the Sell It! Sister course, but they also want some direct access to me.
They also feel lonely as an entrepreneur and they want a supportive community and they want a little bit more kind of hands-on help and guidance. Then my success squad group program is excellent. And I'm going to suggest that they join that. Or if they're like, I just want your help. I just want your stuff strategy and your guidance and all of that.
And if I'm in a group or if I'm doing a whole bunch of different things, like a course and all of that, it's just going to feel like too much. It's going to be too much mentally to juggle. I just want sessions with you then. One-on-one time is great, but I assess all of this in our discovery call. That's why that's why I have them.
Right. So that is really important for me because I mean, listen, people can spend their money with me, however, they choose to. But ultimately it's important for me to make sure that people get what is right for them right now. That doesn't mean we can't work differently together later, but I want to make sure they're getting the right help with me.
Right. From the get-go. Right. So, so yeah, so that's how that's how I view it. That's how I approach it. I do think that there should always be a percentage of the money that you are bringing in that goes back to investing in something in your business. So whether that is mentorship, whether that is outsourcing, whether it's something else.
I think there should always be a percentage that feels good for you, that you keep aside that you use just for that. I do think that sometimes it's okay for an investment to feel scary. If it's going to get you closer to your goals and it feels like it's really aligned and you're really excited.
About it. I think that that's really good. And I do think that it is something that you can be you can be mindful of, but you should really, really, really try to avoid. Doing everything on your own, because it will just frustrate the hell out of you. And it will make everything take so much longer. Like, trust me, I've done a billion hours of trial and error on my own in the past.
And while you can learn a lot from it and grow a lot from it, there's also a lot of unnecessary struggle and frustration there as well. So especially if you are somebody who is like, maybe you're still working full time and you want to switch over, like to make your side hustle your full-time business or you aren't working a separate job or anything, or a separate career, and you've just been working on your business and now you're really ready to ramp it up. Or maybe you feel like you've reached a plateau in your business and you don't know how to break through, or you don't know how to make more money without having to put in more hours, those are all great times to look and say, like, I think I need to invest in a person or a program who is going to help me with this issue right now, so that I can get to the other side of it so much faster and with a lot more ease and support. So yeah, so go ahead and I would love to hear your thoughts on this, on this episode, on this subject, on all of it. This is certainly, I mean, look, I, obviously I run a business, obviously, help people, people can invest in me. But I'm also somebody where, when I'm doing my discovery calls or when we're chatting in a DM, if I know that somebody else is actually a better fit, I love referring people to other people in programs that I know. And I am always, always, always happy to say, you know what? I don't think I'm the perfect fit for you right now. I'm going to send you over to this other person and set instead. So just know, like if you reach out to me on this topic, I do pride myself on having a lot of integrity around it. And I'm not in the business to just to just like sell you on something that you, you might not need, but I would love it if you got a lot of value out of this or wanted to share any ahas or takeaways, be sure that you're following me on Instagram at Erika Tebbens Consulting and post in the stories and tag me and let me know your thoughts and as always happy selling!
