So, you've started your business. You've gotten past the self-inflicted drought of no revenue. Now you're cash flowing. You're paying yourself a steady wage and wondering what to do with the rest of your cash flow. Should you open a 401k? An IRA? Invest in real estate? There are many turning points here.
I can write about this topic because I've been here. I started my business 5+ years ago by myself and went through the growing pains, gained customers, and finally sustained reliable revenue. I never once invested in anything that wasn't related to my business. No IRA's, no 401k's, no mutual funds, no stocks, no real estate...nothing!
But shouldn't we diversify? I don't. Diversify means we don't know what we're doing. Think about it, when we diversify we are basically saying "Just in case I fail, I'm going to put my eggs in many baskets just in case lady luck shows up and some of the other baskets are okay". Diversification is victim investing. We are giving up control and relying on chance and odds. Warren Buffett say that diversification means we don't know what we're doing. Mark Cuban says diversification is for idiots. Andrew Carnegie says put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket. Henry Ford invested every penny of his back into himself until he was 40. I can keep going. Success leaves clues and these are certainly some pretty substantial clues! I would go as far to say that the entrepreneur who chooses to invest in something other than themselves subconsciously does not have faith in their own ability and is further invalidating their own self trust.
So, what should an entrepreneur invest in? I will share what I did!
The first thing I invested in was my own ability. That's right. I invested in me. When I made money, I put it back into books, courses, coaches, mentors, and other investments because for myself, I am the only "sure thing" that exists. My first substantial investment is pathetic. It was audible.com. I grew up so brainwashed that before I began my business, my wife and I put $4,000 into a mutual fund to buy an invisible investment that was managed by a stranger who we'd never meet and within the same 12-month period, I was hesitant to spend $14.95/mo. on an audio book to develop myself. I mean seriously, what level of self-loathing are we conditioned into where we will give money to someone else for their benefit without thinking but we have reserves about spending on our own personal growth. My next step up was a conference. I spent about $1500 on a conference. It wasn't even a great conference but it was the first time I'd done something like that. Just by spending the money I was slowly changing my programming. I finally worked my way up to spending about $2,000 on Cardone University. After seeing the results from that, I began to realize how great of an ROI I had. I multiplied that $2,000 more than 10 time over in less than 6 months! You are your greatest investment. Period. Anyone who disagrees is selling you on their product, I guarantee it.
The next thing I invested in was a team. Because I had begun to invest in myself, my production sky-rocketed. I quickly realized the importance of distribution and leverage. So, I began hiring a team of sales people. Believe it or not, this was a success and a mistake at the same time. What I really should have done is hire administrative help prior to bringing on more sales people, but I did not do that and at the time I brought on about 3 sales people at once. These people I brought on suffered from the same condition of self-distrust that I began with and because of my own struggle with it, I could identify this. I used my excess cash flow to make investments into them that they were not yet trusting enough to make into themselves. As their trust built, I began to create incentives for them to invest in their own development. The result this has created is a culture of growth. When we hire new people, they know in the first week if this is the company for them or not because we have such a high expectation for production and personal growth. (Btw, I did finally smarten up and hire some administrative experts!)
Right now, I am investing into marketing. This one I struggled with for quite some time. I didn't invest in marketing because "I've never bought something because of the commercial". That was my limiting belief. I have bought things because of the commercial and just didn't realize or care to admit it. It honestly took me about three and a half years to realize why marketing was important and how to do it correctly. If nobody knows you, they cannot become a client of yours. It's that simple. Many times, with marketing, you're not buying a "tangible" product. You often cannot analogously measure the ROI per dollar invested. That's why I had so much trouble with it. A few tips with marketing that I've picked up: First be frequent. Be frequent before you're good. Many subpar promo pieces are better than just a few "perfect" ones or worse yet none. Also, if you're going to pay someone for marketing, inspect how well their marketing works for them. Are they making large amounts of revenue off the marketing they do for their own company? If not, you do not want them doing yours. It's too easy to become a "marketing expert" and the only way to test if someone knows their stuff is do they make money using their own product? Last tip, don't market random things that you don't exchange. What I mean is if you're in real estate don't send me an email about how to make the perfect pumpkin latte "because it’s time to swing into the fall season". If you're a financial rep, don't send me an article about pet insurance. Why on earth would you want to be associated with a product or service that you don't offer? Do you want to be known for real estate or pumpkin latte's? Do you want to be known for financial products or pet insurance? Be prepared to spend on marketing and make sure your marketing is proven to generate revenue, it is frequent, and it directly promotes your product, service, and brand.
If you'd like more tips on how to grow your business and invest in yourself reach out to one of my Wealth Coaches. They were with business owners on cutting down fixed costs, hiring the right staff, increasing production, and marketing the brand correctly. Click here to expand!
Own Your Potential!
Jerry Fetta
Jerry Fetta is a husband, son on Yahweh, Entrepreneur and owner of 5 privately held companies. Jerry lives in Alaska with his wife and 2 dogs. His no-nonsense approach to business, finances, and life speaks truth and provides clarity to his clients and followers. His personal mission in life is to empower millions of leaders to own their God-given, ultimate potential to begin creating a life by design.
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