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What’s the difference between spending and investing?

You’re investing in your business.

You’re paying yourself.

You’re growing.

But how do you make financial decisions in your business? How do you know you’re making the right decisions?

Are you making decisions based on fear or are you just being a good steward?

How do you know?

You’re making an investment. It’s not like investing in the stock market …. or is it?

When you invest in the stock market, unless you’re a day trader — which means you’re moving your money into stocks and funds and out on a regular, almost daily basis — you’re not investing for today, for this week, for this month.

The average investor doesn’t expect to get a return on their money immediately. You’re making a long-term investment.

When you put money into the stock market you don’t think of it as spending money.

You’re investing for the future.

In your business, it’s the same way.

There is money you spend on immediate expenses – like Zoom, like your email provider, your scheduling system, that give you an immediate benefit, but those expenses don’t appreciate or give you a direct return on your money. They are the cost of doing business.

Then there’s money that you invest. You’re expecting a return on your investment or you’re expecting your investment to appreciate, more like stocks or real estate.

But that appreciation or that return is long term. You don’t typically realize that return immediately.

And a lot of us with more of a scarcity mindset in our business struggle with those decisions, whether it’s spending time, energy or money, it feels like a waste if there’s not an immediate return on our money.

If you struggle with debt, you could also be thinking about those financial decisions that result in debt in the same way. Debt is an investment when you’re using debt properly. It’s an investment. It’s leverage. What can you do when you have access to borrowing power? You can make investments that will grow your wealth over the long term.

What investments in your coaching business are like that?

This could mean investing in your education, to grow your capabilities, your knowledge and your skill sets in a way that makes what you offer more valuable, that gives you access to more opportunities that will pay you.

This could mean investing in coaching that equips and empowers you for a better quality of life which then contributes to a more productive and more prosperous career or business.

This could mean investing in systems or structures that give you more time or more ease, which frees up time, energy, and attention to focus on other things that help you generate more revenue and increase your impact.

The time you spend marketing, developing your messaging and your branding, planting seeds out in the marketplace, developing visibility, showing up and being consistent on whatever platform you’re on, these are all investments.

You can view nearly every decision in your business from a perspective of investment.

What is the investment I’m making?

It could be in terms of any resource you have.

Time

Attention

Money

Energy

Focus

Knowledge

Skill set

Decisions

How am I spending any of these resources? Am I spending them or am I investing them?

What is the return on that investment?

Again, think in terms of resources, not just financial returns.

What emotional return does this decision have on me, on my family, on my business?

If I spend this one-time, up-front effort, what return will I see long-term in my business?

How are you investing?

You’re constantly investing. The question you need to ask is what am I investing in?

If you’re spending time spinning in doubt and confusion, you’re investing time, mental energy, physical energy, thinking, in something that will give you a negative return on your investment.

This week, notice what you’re investing in.

Notice how you’re spending your most valued resources.

Where are you spending your time?

Where are you spending your money?

What’s occupying your thoughts?

How are you using your energy?

Where is your attention going?

And notice the returns you’re getting on these investments.

Let’s get you investing well and getting a healthy return on all of your investments.

That’s how we’ll make money easier.

I’ll see you next week!