Learn From My Mistakes. 5 Proven Recommendations for You to Make the Important Investments During Horrible Economy

I’m not an economist so I won’t comment or give this current economic situation a name.    

But I do want to talk to you about investments because I started my business in 2009 when the country was experiencing one of the worst economies since the Great Depression. Everywhere I turned, businesses were laying off, and people were losing their jobs. People stopped spending money they didn’t have to. I noticed at my hair salon (the one big “luxury,” I continued with) that regular customers were spreading their appointments further and further apart. Instead of buying salon products, they were purchasing similar items for much less at the drug store.

Admittedly, I wasn’t prepared for the drastic change in our economic climate. That’s because I had been successfully working in an industry where the money was flowing fast and furiously. I was taking six international vacations a year and pulling out my credit card whenever I saw something tempting to buy.

Talking to friends about that time now, they admit the same thing. None of us had planned for the downturn or even knew it was coming. We thought those good times would never end. But, they did.

I’m an accidental entrepreneur. I hadn’t planned on starting a business yet; it was the only thing that made sense for me at that time. That’s another story for another day.

Initially, money was spent on a lot of flashy stuff—things like a fancy-dancy website. I was spending money I didn’t have on a high-level resource that was too advanced. In retrospect, it would have been perfectly sufficient to have had a basic WordPress site that cost one-tenth of the price. But, I didn’t know better and went for the upscale version. I looked around at what others were doing and thought I should do the same. Over that first year, I proceeded to make a lot of similar investments that didn’t serve me.

I learned and I made some very good choices (including hiring a business coach). That’s why I’m so proud to have been able to sky-rocket my business success and create a profitable and long-standing business!

Let me share the best information I can give you regarding where you should invest your money in this tough economy. Yes, you DEFINITELY want to invest because we need the money to flow to bring our economy back!

Look at the ROI. That’s “return on investment.” In the stock market, ROI is determined by how much your investment increases over time. But in this instance you are looking for the best bang for your dollar. You have limited funds so you want to make sure you’re spending money on the right stuff. How do you do that?

1.   Be super clear on your short-term and long-term goals. This knowledge is critical, so you don’t get caught up with “bright shiny object syndrome” and think you need to do something entirely unnecessary. Sometimes I find people spend money on these types of things as a form of procrastination from doing the work that matters and will make a difference. For example, creating a new “logo” instead of learning how to “sell.”  (New logos are lovely but if you don’t have enough money coming in…)

2.  Ask yourself: What do you want to achieve from this resource? Is it a promotion? Make more money? Change your self-image? Grow your business? Increase your confidence? Write a new money story?

3.  Swim in your own lane. Don’t get caught up with what others are doing. They may have different resources available, be in a different place in their business/career, or have different goals. They could also be over-committed or making bad decisions. You don’t know what is going on behind the scenes.

4.  Make a list of what you are willing to do to achieve success. For example, you could buy the best book in the world, but if it sits on your shelf and you don’t read it, you can’t expect to learn anything from it. Seriously, as you look around, how many books are sitting on your shelves unopened? This is important as you MUST take personal responsibility and do your part of the required work!

5.  Think about how you will measure success. Sometimes, it can be measured tangibly. Examples could be money earned, a new job title, or increased opportunities. Other times, it is intangible. I had a client who wanted to grow her business and attract more clients, yet she was repelling everyone she contacted. Our initial work was to change how others perceived her before taking further steps to increase her revenue.

Often, you’ll find that there are essential steps that can’t be skipped. They are needed for more success. Or perhaps, you lack the clarity of what direction to go? Maybe you’re missing the self-confidence to take the most critical action? Possibly, you’re self-sabotaging your success, playing the good month/bad month game?

Whatever way you’re stuck, investing in a coach is a proven way to move to the next level in your business/career. One of my super-powers is quickly uncovering what’s blocking you and what action must be taken for you to move forward into success. The next step is guiding you through that life-changing transformation. Let’s talk about what it would be like for you to coach with me. Schedule your time for us to “meet.”

Be Brilliant,

Kate Beeders

International Speaker | Best-Selling Author |
Breakthrough Success Expert | Leading Mindset Expert | Award-Winning Strategist | Private Coaching