“That [course/conference/membership] is a bit expensive,” said a million business owners.
But what if you flip it and view it as an investment?
Costs and investments both show up in your P&L, but they are totally different in meaning. Costs are for essentials, like rent, fuel or electricity. Investments build capability and expand your options.
If you want your business to grow, you have to invest in it. And if you’re the owner (or one of them), business growth and personal growth go together. So the question becomes: are you going to invest strategically, emotionally, or not at all?
If your instinct is to protect the cash as if it were this month’s pay packet, you’re thinking defensively. Owners think differently. They allocate capital, including their own time, to build the future.
Or maybe you invest emotionally, like buying shares because of something you heard in the pub. Maybe that scary-priced weekend, that shiny bootcamp, that exclusive membership, will give you a transfusion of magic essence to make you effortlessly successful. Sorry, there are no shortcuts. There is clarity, discipline and repetition. Try, fall, learn, repeat.
A Better Question
But what if you invest strategically? You clarify your goals, and make a plan to achieve them.
Then the question is not “What does it cost?”, but “How will I turn this into fuel for my goals? How will this serve my plan?”. That conference, for example: how will you maximise the knowledge and connections, to create the platform for the next level in your business?
It’s pointless to ask, “Is this the best possible investment for my goals?”. You will never know, and trying to guess leads to paralysis. Make a decision that supports your goals, advances your plan, and work it for all it’s worth. Make yourself accountable for the return you get. Employees spend, owners invest – which hat are you wearing?
Before you commit to your next course, conference or coach, ask different questions:
1. What specific capability am I building?
2. How will I use this in the next 90 days?
3. What would make this unquestionably worthwhile?
If you’re not sure where to invest in yourself or your business this year, let’s map it out. Call me, and we’ll turn it into a plan.