One of the biggest things I have learned from working for myself for the past few years is that people will never take your business seriously if you don’t, This is a hard lesson to learn, and here’s why. It means that we can no longer blame someone else for our lack of success. If you aren’t putting in the work to take your business seriously then you shouldn’t be surprised when no one else does either. I know this is a little bit of tough love, but it’s a lesson that we all need and sometimes we just need a reminder to believe in ourselves. 

Why You Aren’t Taking Your Biz Seriously

There are a lot of reasons we may not want to take our biz seriously, here are just a few:

• Fear that if we put the effort and energy in we will still fail and that will feel even worse.
• We don’t want our business to feel like draining soul-sucking work. 
• We don’t know what we really want for our business and committing to anything feels paralyzing. 

All of these reasons are totally normal to run into and maybe you’ll run into them several times, but they are holding you back. I want to share one thing that has ALWAYS helped me reach new goals in my business and to treat it like a real a** business and that is investing in my biz. 

Investments that Helped Me Level Up

You have probably heard this before and that’s because it is seriously true! I want to share a few examples of when I needed to invest in my business to reach a new goal. 

• Investing in a course to learn how to run a business, market it, and talk to my ideal clients. I enrolled in B-School when I first quit my job and decided to pursue this full time. It was a hefty price tag that felt really scary but you better believe I did every piece of homework, applied as much as I could to my business, and never missed a live call. I was in it, and during that time I gained three new clients that set me up to actually pay for B-School and my other expenses those first few months. 
• Investing in an email platform I LOVE! For so long I had heard that you need to be building an email list, but I seriously could not make Mailchimp work for me. Then I switched to FloDesk and within a week had doubled my very small email list that I had been trying to build for years. Now my email list is one of my favorite places to talk to my community and I am able to connect easily and grow this list as well. Mailchimp was free for me to use, and FloDesk is $19 a month which felt like a big investment Now I can’t imagine not using this platform and would pay even more for it. You can read more about why I love FloDesk here if you too hate your email platform. 
• Investing in a client management system that allowed me to automate certain things, create templates, and make it easy to go from learning about my services to actually contacting and hiring me. I had been doing all of my client management via email and that was the worst! At first, it wasn’t a problem but as I grew, I knew I needed a better system because things were falling through the cracks; some payments never got made, or contracts were left unsigned, and sometimes client emails would end up in spam. For me to invest in the system that I really wanted I felt like I was taking a HUGE risk. What if no one wanted to work with me anymore? What if this new system was one my current clients hated? What if…? The list went on, but then I said this “I know that by making this investment in my business I am going to be giving myself more time and space to work with clients that I love, and that has to be worth the investment.” Whoa, big lightbulb moment here! You may be nodding your head along saying ya, ya, but the truth is after investing, I was more excited about opening up more client spots and selling to them because I knew I had a bunch of the admin parts that I was drowning in off my plate. P.S. If you are wondering what platform I use, it’s HoneyBooks and I LOVE it. 

Do you see how every step along the way I was leveling up? I was gaining new clients, growing my email list, giving myself more time, and putting more joy back into my business. When we start actually investing dollars and cents into our business, we are more likely to show up as if we are the CEO (because you are!). We are more likely to grow because we are giving ourselves more space to do just that.

Making Smart Investments

Whether you are just barely starting your business or if you are at a point where it is time to get to that next level or goal, I recommend making a smart investment. Here is the way I look at any investment in my business:

• Will it give me more clarity or direction? Sometimes we are so stuck and just don’t know what to do and getting more education, coaching, or support to get that clarity you need will be a game-changer.
• Will it give me back more time to focus on the things I love? Maybe you need a client management system or a virtual assistant to help you take back some of that time to focus on the parts of your business that truly matter. 
• Will it make me happier and more excited to show up? If you are feeling a little lackluster in your business maybe it’s time to make some changes. This could be anything from signing up to an email platform you love, taking a course or attending a workshop to learn more, or even having a one-on-one brainstorming call with an expert in your field. 

But I don’t have the money!

This is a phrase I have said one too many times and heard just as many times. Although everyone’s circumstances are different, do your best to stop saying this phrase. There will be things that are out of your price range or feel risky and I know you know your finances best so be sure to make educated decisions. But, if it is coming down to eating take out two nights a week or investing in a $19 email platform, I think it’s pretty clear where the money should go (I used to hate cooking so this one really hits home). I also think it’s important to remember that this is an investment, this is you putting money into something that will give you money back. 

I can’t wait to see all the amazing things you do in your business, and if you are ever interested in working together to get you to that next level, you can see the services I offer here and the courses I offer here.