6 Questions to Ask Before Investing in Your Business
Today's topic is something that I've never really talked about before, and that's questions to ask yourself when you're investing in your business.
Man, I have been stretched so much this year when it comes to this in my business. I've invested in my business every year since I've started it, but there was a month this year where I spent a large amount of money above and beyond my usual expenses because I was investing in a new website, new branding, etc.
It didn't feel debilitating — it felt really exciting, but still like a stretch. So I wanted to share my thoughts on this with you because I know some of you right now are thinking about investing in your business in one way or another. Hopefully these questions will help you as you think through investing in yourself and your business!
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Discussed in this episode:
Journaling prompts / questions to ask yourself before you invest in your business
The benefits of always have a business coach to help you work through questions and clear blocks as you grow
How Anna is able to do so much in her business while only working 20 hours a week
How to know if you're feeling excited fear or debilitating panic
The importance of realizing that when you make investments, they're not always going to be perfect
Deciding on where to invest by using how you naturally tend to make decisions
Resources:
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**This is a raw, unedited transcript**
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Hi friends. I'm so excited to record this for you. <laugh> I'm actually recording it in the, as the evening comes just so interesting because usually I record, um, my content during the daytime, but I really, it was a crazy day. My kids are sick this week. I'm a little congested, but it kind of like feels UN magical to talk to you right now. And I think that that's perfect because of today's topic. I've never really talked about before, which is questions to ask your yourself when you're investing in your business. And man, oh man, I've been stretched so much when it comes to this, this year in my business, I've really invested every year in my business, but there was a month on top of my normal team expenses and investments. I think I spent like 15 K just on various expenses cuz I was doing a new website and a new design thing.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
And I was just for a second, like I told one of my girlfriends on Voxer. Like I feel like I'm investing before I'm ready or like, it didn't feel like debilitating. It felt exciting, but it felt like a stretch. So I wanted to share that with you because some of you guys right now are thinking about investing in your business, whether it is yay by the way, sell with heart doors are open the next round of my mentorship. So I've had been having this conversation with several of you, but I think it's so useful as you're thinking about the next investment in your business, whatever it is, whether it's a team member, whether it's a coach, right, for you to ask yourself these questions, to make sure that you're making the very best investment. And so I really think these questions are great journaling prompts, and I hope that they help you as you're thinking through investing.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
And I hope it just normalizes what we go through as women, um, as we're trying to make that decision, right? I just told someone on a clarity call today. Like I get that there's like both sides of our brain as we're making money decisions, investing decisions, right? There's that like rational side of our brain. And it's important to have that side that like needs to pull up our budget and see what we can afford. Right. And see how we can crunch numbers and make it happen. There's also the other side of our brain, the intuitive emotional side, the visionary side, the faith based side that sometimes says leap and the net will appear. And honestly, I think both sides of our brain are helpful and necessary. And what I would encourage you to do is ask yourself, which side of the brain am I not tapping into enough?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Right. I tend to be a little bit more like think things through and plan it and be stable and responsible. So I give myself lately permission to be a little bit more faith based trust risk, right? Healthy risk is good and important and necessary, especially in business. Right? Maybe you're on the other side and you're like a little too risky. Maybe you need to reel it back in again. You know? But it's like knowing that about yourself. Okay. So let's go through these six questions. Number one, such an important question to ask yourself. What's the biggest challenge in my business I'm facing right now, before you think about what's for sale, right before you think about what you know offers there are out there, the coaches you'd like to work with the VAs you'd like to hire, like, are you even clear what the problem is in your business?
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Right now? Think about that first and then go to the store, right? It's like when you go to the grocery store hungry and then everything looks good, like, and you come home from trader Joe's with like a ton of snacks may or may not have happened to me. Right. Instead of making your fricking grocery list first, right. And asking yourself, what do I need this week to make the recipes? Okay, I'm gonna make chili. I'm gonna make salads. I'm gonna make hamburgers. These are the things I need so that when you go to trader Joe's, right, you're not distracted by the chocolate covered almonds. Have you guys had those? The truffle Seasaw almonds. Shout out to those also unrelated. My other favorite stack recently target true fruit. Have you tried these things? They're frozen raspberries. They're in the freezer section. They're dipped in white chocolate and milk chocolate.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I kid you not. You'll eat all of them in the car, on the drive home before you get home. Okay. But point being, that's why we go to the store with the grocery list, same thing in our business, that investing what's our biggest problem right now. If you don't know what your biggest problem is right now, it might help you to hire a coach just for a single session for you to figure that out. Right. And for you to really get clear on like what's most blocking me. What's the thing. One of the reasons why I almost always work with a coach in my business is because my problem is perpetually brain space, right? I don't about you, but I'm a single mama. I've got two crazy kids. I've got a busy life. So for me, one of the reasons I will always have a personal coach is because one of the things that coach helps you with is helping you have more capacity, right?
Speaker 1 (04:43):
The more someone I have partnering with me on business decisions on clearing my blocks on working through my fears, my brain space is always a limited resource. This isn't true for everyone. But I find for like a lot of busy mamas, right? What they use me for as a coach is brain space is capacity, right? Making the right decisions. Um, again like working through mindset blocks and fears and knowing what the best strategy is. So they can spend their limited time on action. Right? If you only have 10 hours to work in your business every week you better have. And people say like, oh, I don't have time for coaching. The less time you have in your business, the more coaching support you need. So you gotta be really strategic with those hours. I know for a fact, the reason I'm able to do all that I do in my business in about 20 hours a week.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
And honestly, before I did it in about 15 hours a week is because I have so much support, right. That support adds to your capacity. Right. And I've just seen that happen time and time again for me. Okay. So figuring out what's your biggest challenge, maybe even say it out loud right now. Right. And then even more, is it like, um, with sales, is it with visibility? Is it with lead generation, right? Is it with capacity, right? Like what's your biggest challenge. And then the second part to this question is, is this investment I'm considering going to help me with that challenge? If it's not, don't make that investment. Right. For example. And so with heart, my mentorship, a big focus of that program is sales. Right. And signing clients, either one-on-one clients or for my clients in there that are already fully booked. If they're a done for you provider, right.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
If they're a virtual assistant or a podcast manager or an accountant, right. Then it's building team, right. And continuing to sign clients. So those team members can serve them. Right. If the other half of my clients are coaches, right? If you're one, one is booked out that it's selling group programs, leverage programs, right. But all under the umbrella of we're talking about putting yourself out there, getting more visible, making sales, serving clients from a super heart centered place. Right? So the clients that come into there typically are having trouble signing clients, filling their programs and, or their next level things. And also knocking out the income ceilings, the money blocks, the beliefs that keep us small and keep us from believing. We are worthy of a ton of money without sacrificing our values and freedom. Right. So it's useful for those ladies coming in, usually ask them on the clarity call.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Like, are you, do you have time and margin? And are you cool with working on sales? That's useful. Right. If they're like, no, I never wanna sell anything. No, I really don't want to, or have capacity to make money right now. Then I know it's not a fit. Right. But it's just so useful for you to know and to even ask your clients, like, what's your biggest challenge right now when you ask that on a discovery call, when you ask that in your Facebook group, on your Instagram poll, that's not just like a cheeky question. Like it's actually useful to know because when someone invests in my program, I want them to know that they have the problem that I'm solving. Otherwise I'll tell them like, mm, yeah. That's not a fit. I can't help you solve that problem. Right. So I think it's so useful for you to know.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I think it's so useful for you to help your clients find out. Um, okay. Second question to ask yourself is I really like this one, because big question I get from people is like, how do I know if like I'm nervous as I'm investing? If that's my intuition <laugh> telling me, like, don't do this. Or if this is, um, uh, oh, sorry, opposite. If this is my intu intuition, um, or if it's fear, right? Which one is it? And for me, it really is at the end of the day, I would say when I it's a good investment, but it's scary, but in a good, scary sighting way, I would say that I feel nervous, scared. Like I'm like moving into the big leagues, but I'm still excited. Right? If at any point I'm feeling really like, um, I would say like a retraction in my chest or I'm feeling like panicky or like spending this money is gonna feel debilitating or paralyzing and back away slowly.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right. But I'll be honest with you. Every time I invest in my business, I'm scared, right? Every time in my business, I'm like, okay, here we go. Like, but I really believe, and this is question number three. What do I believe about the money that I spend in my business? What do I believe about the investments that I make? And my belief is that every time I invest, it pays off for me, right. Either it's the wrong investment. And I learned my lessons, right. Or most of the time, it, anytime I invest in my happiness, my support, I know that it's gonna come back to me. Right. Whether it's in a coach, in a VA, in my laundry service in child care, right. As I spend, this is just like a bigger money belief. Like maybe even put your hand on your heart and say this out loud, right.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
As I spend money on my happiness, as I spend money on my support, I'm able to show up bigger and better and more aligned and more focused in my business. And it always pays off for me. When I invest from an aligned place. When I embrace support that money pays off, I am worthy of spending money on myself. It's safe to get support. Right. It's safe to invest in me. And I think I told you guys this story that I really feel like the first time that I really realized this is when I was pregnant with my kids. And I never took such good care of my body as when I was pregnant, because I felt like I was, oh, I gotta, I can justify buying these expensive prenatals, doing these things because it's for my baby. Right. And really me caring for me directly affected my babies.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
And it's still this way to this day, right? The less stress I am, the kinder of a mama I am. And so I just think it's like looking at that same way is safe for you to invest in yourself in your business. Right. Because I know for me, every time I've done that, I've seen my business grow. Okay. Okay. So back to number two, though, I switch to the questions. I would ask you back this question. How do you know when an investment is like stretchy and exciting versus an investment feels like too stretchy, not aligned. Like how do you tell the difference between something that's not aligned and something that is scary and a stretch, but aligned in all of the entrepreneurs that I know, all of my peers, I can speak for myself. I have time and time again, invested in my business in a way that feels a little bit before I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
You know, I think about the team member that I just hired. Right. It felt a little bit like, Ooh, like you never quite feel ready. Same thing with business in general, you're never gonna feel ready to quit your job. You're never gonna feel ready to launch your group program. Right. We can't wait till we're feeling ready, but for me, I would describe it as that feeling of like being almost ready. Right. I'm almost ready. Right. But you really, almost always can't wait until you fully feel ready. You're prepared because like that never comes. Okay. Next one, number four. Oh, I really like this one. Are there any past investments I need to process or forgive myself for? We have all made investments in our life or business where we were like, mm, probably was not the best use of my money. I was disappointed. I was frustrated by that coach by that course.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
And I think it's so useful to process and release that maybe even write a letter to that person so that moving forward, you can make an investment with clear eyes because I've seen it one more or the other, right. Maybe you like react and make it another poor investment because of the unforgiveness work there. Or maybe you're like nervous to invest again. Right. And I think also we can do our self forgiveness work. Like maybe you invested in a program and you really didn't fully show up for it. You were really busy, right? Can you do some self forgiveness and say like, it's okay. I learned that that's a lesson. You know, I always say like, as you're showing up and getting more visible online, it's normal. As you're hearing more yeses and getting more sales to say, no, I hear more. No's in my business now than I ever did.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
However, I'm making more money than I ever did before. Right. As you're showing up, it's gonna be normal. The more yeses you get, the more no's you get to. And so same thing with investments, as you're spending a lot of money, you're in your business, some of that isn't gonna be the best spend some of that. You're gonna be like, I'm not gonna do that again. Right. It's normal. And so instead of like looking for perfection and looking to never make a bad investment to ne like instead really ask yourself, how do I get better and better at investing? How do I get savvyer and ser at investing, right. How do I learn from my mistakes? Right. When I invest and it wasn't the best, how do I reflect and ask myself, like, how do I not do that again? Right. Not from like a shame place, but from like a reflected place.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Okay. Next question is, am I making this investment from an empowered self trusting space? Or <laugh> a save me quick, fix head space, right at the end of the day. Right? I want my clients coming in with like, yes, Anna, I truly need your support and strategies. I want you to kick my boot. I want you to hold my, hold my hand. I want you to encourage me. But at the end of the day, they know what they're doing. They trust themselves. They know that they can veto me as their coach. They know that I, I'm not perfect. They know that I'm not the ultimate authority. Right. They know that I don't have all the answers. Right. That's so important that you are making any investment from that place. I even think about, um, you know, a lot of my clients are done for you providers like virtual assistance.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And we'll talk about clients that come to them and expect them to save their business. You know? And it's no one's job to save your business, but you, right. It's kind of like that like fairytale syndrome where we're waiting for like a prince to save us, you know? And so I think it's just really making sure you're coming to that head space of like, I'm not looking for a quick fix. I'm not looking for someone to save me. I'm looking for someone to guide me, empower me, encourage me, someone that's going to keep me on the throne though, of being a queen, you, right. You're in charge. You're the CEO, you're the boss, you know, best. You're gonna take tips and advice. But at the end of the day, guess what? You're gonna make an executive decision. And guess what? A lot of the times my clients will disagree with me or my clients will say, mm that's good.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
But my intuition's leading me this way. And then we'll unpack it to make sure it's not fear. But then of course I support them. Right? You want someone at the end of the day, that's going to support and empower and encourage you. And so going in with that head space of like, I'm not looking for someone to fix me, I'm perfect. As I am, I'm not looking for someone to, um, save me. Right. I'm looking for someone to, to guide me. And I would even like fill on the, in the blank and ask yourself what that is for you. What are you looking for? And again, for me, it's like, I'm looking for someone to partner with me, empower me, um, mentor me, give me advice, cheerlead for me. But do you see how, like, that's a different energy than like, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm screwed.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Right? Cause any coach that like in ex sales call tells you, like, if you don't hire me right now, you're screwed, like run away from them. Right. Because I fully believe that I could run my business without <laugh>, you know, maybe not <laugh> I was gonna say like, I believe I could run my business without a coach and without a team, but I don't want to, I certainly don't want to, but you see how that's different. It's almost like when you think about a partnership, you guys know I'm like in a dating season right now. And I have an amazing sweet boyfriend. Right. I don't need a boyfriend, but I do want a boyfriend. Right. Same thing with like those investments. You can want a coach, you can want a virtual assistant, but you don't need one. Right. I'm like, can I I'm like, well,
Speaker 2 (15:59):
I kinda do need my team. I kinda love them so much. And I do need my coach.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
No, but you know what I mean? Right. That place of empowerment. Okay. <laugh> um, okay. Number six is how do I like to make decisions? I talked about this in the point of view, coaching podcast episode, where I walked you through making a decision and I wanted to bring this over here too. And this is what I asked all my potential clients on sales calls for most of them. How do you like to make decisions? It's all different for us, right. But again, when you think about that rational thinking part of your brain, when you think about that intuitive leap of faith, making part of your brain, what percentage would you say you use on each of those sides? I kind of like to use like 50, 50, honestly. Um, and then on top of that, like asking yourself, like, how do you make big decisions for me?
Speaker 1 (16:45):
I love talking it out with someone who gets it. <laugh> so like a biz friend. Right. I like praying, surrendering, asking God, I love using my intuition. And ultimately I just like deciding all by myself, you know, I wouldn't say that's how it was at the start of my business. I feel like I really kind of like outsourced decision making a lot more, but now I kind of just like ask myself like, mm, do I wanna do it or do I not? Right. And really trust my cut and really trust that there are no bad or wrong decisions and I'm just gonna do my best. Right. And I really try to think of like worst case scenario, like what's worst case scenario here, you know, and really give myself grace and err on the side, life is too short, like airing on the side of trusting myself, trusting, um, the people that I'm investing in and going all in and taking that leap of faith.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Okay. I hope this was useful for you. And with that being said, I would love, love to invite you to invest in the next round, sell with heart. If you are interested in mentorship with me. So I have a six month mentorship and mastermind called sell with heart, and I love this program. I love these ladies. So, so much just a powerful group. And it's really, um, my mentorship where you have group coaching calls, small pod group coaching calls, private between session support, where I'm just there. As your coach, walking with you, weekly video trainings, we have money mindset, journaling prompts, and really it's there to guide and empower you wherever you are at to help you make more money than you've ever made before this year and feel good, doing it, feel in alignment with your values. Maybe you only wanna work 10 hours a week, right?
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Maybe you want to be home with your littles. Like maybe you don't have kids. Maybe you, you know, wanna travel the world. Like we have women, so many different types of women. Again, I would say half are coaches, half are done for you ladies, but just an amazing group of women. And so if you're looking to build incredible business friendships, and also have a mentor who has your back and is there to encourage you, support you, but also hold your feet to the fire for what you know, you are capable of. I would love a chance to talk with you about, so with heart. So feel free to, you can think through these questions even before you get on the call or I can ask them to you on the call. Um, I'm offering free clarity calls right now to just talk through where you are at, where you are feeling most stuck and challenged.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
And if my mentorship is a fit, you bet your booty. I will tell you. And if it's not, you bet your booty. I will tell you too. Um, I will pop the link, but just so thankful for you and just giving you the biggest hug. Cause I feel like whatever investments you're making, I just wanna say like, it's scary, it's normal, it's brave, but you can do it. Right. And you deserve that support, right? You deserve to invest in you, um, as you grow your business. And I would say like, honestly, I feel like why my success started out. So strong is so quickly. I hired a coach immediately. I hired a coach immediately before I had really any momentum in my business before there was, I think so often we wanna see the evidence before we invest. But for me, the evidence was in my head.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And I remember telling my coach, even before I hired her, I don't really fully know what my business is gonna look like. I don't really know how I'm gonna make money. I've never really fully done this before. But what I do know is I'm gonna be successful and I'm gonna figure it out. And that's what I'm talking about when I'm saying, like hiring someone from an empowered place. Right. And maybe you're like, wow, what a big ego, Anna. But like, I think as a coach, it can be nice for our clients to, to hear them say that, right. For me to tell my coach, like, yes, I want you to guide me, but I know I'm gonna be successful. I know I'm gonna figure it out. I know I'm gonna put in the work and that's where the investment pays off or you're all the way in.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
And you know that you are the magic ticket, you know, you are, are, um, the queen, you know, you are the reason that you're gonna succeed. And I feel like as I grow and scale my business, one of the skill sets I pride myself most on is knowing who to hire, to help me get there. Right? Cause again, like it is super value to how the skill of visibility of sales of team building. Right? But another skill is getting the right people in your corner, right? Getting the coach, that's gonna get your blind spots and call you out. Right. Hiring the VA. That's even better that you than what you're doing. Right. And so really think through that, as you build your team, as you grow, it's safe for you to invest. It's safe for you to put your neck out there and, um, do sighting things. Okay. My have a beautiful rest of your day and thank you so much for tuning in.
PS: In the midst of this challenging time I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help? One of the #1 ways I support my clients is by helping them simplify their business so that they can increase the flow of money without creating extra work. In this season simplified visibility and sales is needed more than ever.
So if you’re craving personal support as you reposition your free and paid work, I’d love to help you simplify your sales process so that you can produce income in your business even during a challenging time. If you want support you can check out my services and book a free discovery call here, or you can send me a DM on Instagram.