3 Investments That Leveled-Up My Business This Year

August 5, 2021

3 Investments That Leveled-Up My Business This Year

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When I first started my business, I believed the less money I spent in my business, the more money I would make. I’m a die-hard Dave Ramsey fanatic and I was NOT about to spend money on stuff I didn’t need. I was a one-woman show. I was the marketing team, copywriter, accountant, designer, R&D, wife, mom, and everything else.

And I HAD to do it all. The idea of spending money was out of the question.

My mindset went something like this:

Make Money
Set 20% aside for taxes
Keep the rest

But then my business started growing.

Like, really really growing. Then I had my first son. Then another.

I was lacking time. I couldn’t juggle everything any more. I no longer had all the time in the world to figure stuff out or remember the status of a client’s project (yikes).

The Realization

Eventually I came to the realization that in order to make more money, I had to spend some money.

Save this pin.

Find your weakest point and find a solution, even if you have to pay for it.

The first thing I ever purchased was a customer relationship management software (CRM). I was dropping the ball on client communication and getting projects confused. My Excel spreadsheet for project management was no longer cutting it. After hours of (too) much research, I started using 17Hats (affiliate link).

This was a game changer.

In 17Hats I can add clients, manage all their projects, collect payments, send contracts, schedule appointments, and keep meeting notes. Get yourself a solid CRM. You won’t regret it.

Pay to learn fast, so you can grow your business faster.

I remember fall 2018 searching for someone who could just tell me how to create a social media strategy.

I knew I needed to post stuff on instagram, but like, what kind of stuff? How often? What does “strategy” really mean?

Some where in this search I stumbled upon Jennifer Allwood, a Christian business coach who specializes in getting women business owners “unstuck”. I followed her for MONTHS before I joined her paid coaching program.

I cannot tell you how nice it is being surrounded by other kingdom-minded business owners, some who are right where you are, and others who have years of experience under their belt. Jen’s wisdom and encouragement has not only helped grow my business, but also helped my mindset and faith.

Get organized.

Before I went on maternity leave with my second son, I realized my business wasn’t in a place where I could simply shut everything down for months. I have clients who rely on me to manage their Pinterest accounts each month. And that’s a very hands-on task.

So I hired a VA (virtual assistant) to take on some of those tasks so I could simply relax and soak up the newborn snuggles.

Before I could hire her, I had to get organized. I needed to get task that I do in a day on to paper so she could simply follow the steps and get the same result. Once I had everything lined out I hired another VA to put everything in to a project management system called ClickUp (affiliate link). When I logged into ClickUp for the first time after she organized all my projects and recurring tasks I was amazed.

Whoa.

I felt like I actually knew every task that HAD to get done that day. Since every task is organized and has a due date I finally know when I can shut down my computer and call it a day.

It’s so freeing.

Now I’m able to hire out more tasks which frees up my time to grow my business by creating new offerings. When you get organized and purchase a team-friendly project management system your business can truly start to grow.

Those are the three investments that leveled up my business in the past year. Because of these three things I am able to serve more people than I’ve ever served before. My revenue has doubled, I’m working less, and I’m able to roll out new offerings that I only ever dreamed of.

But please hear me: I know what it’s like to take that first step and purchase something big for your business. It’s scary. You don’t want to make the wrong choice. Funds are tight.

So start small.

Make a list of what you NEED, versus what you WANT.

As you start to make some money and gain traction, your needs will change.

If you want to get serious about marketing your business to your audience, you’ll need to pay for an email provider (this is what I use). But when you’re first starting out, you don’t need an email list. You just need to refine your product or service a couple times to make sure it’s what your audience needs.

At the beginning of each year, take a look at your list of needs vs. wants and make some adjustments. Purchase what you need to grow your business to the next level and keep the rest on the want list.

2 things you don’t have to buy to have a successful business.

Ads and Promotions
I’ve never run ads and my business has grown just fine organically. But you want to grow your business FAST and you know you have a tested, super-great offering, then by all means, run some ads. But please know that you don’t have to pay-to-play to get business.
Followers
Did you know you can purchase followers on social media? Large amounts of followers can make you look more official and often come with coveted benefits, but did you know you can have a thriving business with less than 500 followers? It’s true! I did it.

Please don’t fall into the lie that you MUST have thousands of followers to grow your business. Followers are a vanity metric. Simply focus on serving your followers really, really well and more people will come.