How to Make More Money by Investing in Your Business

As a business owner, you know that the adage “time is money” isn’t always true. Many times, especially in the beginning of our business, we put far more into our business than we take out.

This ingrained belief that time equals money is the driving factor behind a toxic environment called hustle culture. We believe that we will be financially compensated for the time we put into our business. That belief drives us to work day in and day out. How many times have you been too busy to take a lunch break? (I am looking at you, savvy business owner over there eating at your computer.)

Here is the problem with that: It’s not true!

Time does NOT equal money. How many hours a day do you think about, work on and engage with your business? I can guarantee that you’re investing more time into your business than you’re getting paid for.

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with working countless hours on your business until it starts consuming your life. When you start spacing off in conversations because you just thought of something you need to do for your business. Or when you bring work to the dinner table with you. Or when you start to feel guilty going out with friends or family because there is more you could be working on. That’s when it’s a problem.

Feeling guilty yet?

DIY Isn’t Always the Way to Go

One of the major ways (if not THE major way) that business owners think they can make (or save) money is by investing more time in DIYing their business. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good DIY. The problem is you spend hours and hours of blood sweat and tears learning how to DIY and it’s not returning the favor. That is to say, it’s not making you money. 

• That time you spend perfecting those social media graphics? Yeah, that didn’t make you money.
• That time you spend researching the colors to use? Nope, that didn’t make you money either.
• That website you have been trying to piece together? Yeah… that time is not equaling money.

Starting out our business we did the same thing. We never let anyone help us with anything. When the idea was brought up we actually laughed… as new business owners there was no way we could afford that.

Here is what I’ve learned – you can’t afford NOT to. 

Working in Your Zone of Genius

You started your business because there was something you were good at… right? That’s what we call your zone of genius. The problem is there is so much you need to do outside your zone of genius to have a successful business. 

All your time spent DIYing is taking away from you being able to focus and grow in your zone of genius. And here is the kicker…. the only thing that is actually making you money is your zone of genius. 

So here is where it gets hard to accept. You need to spend money in order to make more money. Once you start investing in your business, and not DIYing everything under the sun, your business can grow and ultimately make you more money. 

Here is what I mean: in order to focus on your zone of genius (aka the moneymaker) you need to outsource the rest of your business. 

Obviously, you need to be strategic about this. You should never spend more than you are making (with few exceptions of course).

Invest in Your Business Through a Website

I am not a financial expert and I cannot tell you where to invest your money in outsourcing… but I am an expert at one thing: web designing. So let’s talk about that before I get myself into trouble here. 

Websites are one of the top things on a business owner’s DIY list in order to save money. And for good reason! There are so many reasons why you should invest in building a strategic website (but that’s all for another blog at another time). Some highlights however are:

• People WILL be searching for you online. That’s just the way the world is now. 
• Your competition has a website. You easily could be losing sales right now to your competitors because they’re online and you’re not. And if you already are, boy it better be up to par. 
• Websites are a great way to advertise your business AND build a brand identity. 

But hiring a professional web designer can feel daunting. I get it… hiring a web designer can seem expensive. When you are just starting out it feels too much to fork out over one thing. 

Here is a great article about the cost analysis of building a website.

But here is the thing… Spending all that time researching, planning, building and redoing is keeping you out of your zone of genius and is going to lead to frustration. As this frustration builds it’s going to overshadow the love that drove you to start this business. 

I know far too many business owners who have fallen victim to this. Many of them have chosen to walk away from their businesses. 

Don’t let this be you. Take the time to evaluate your business and your finances. Talk to a financial advisor if you need to. Find what’s taking you out of your zone of genius and outsource it! Focus on what you are good at while letting others help you with what they are good at.

And if you need help building your website, let’s chat! We want to take this huge burden off of your to-do list and build you a website that propels your business into success! Let’s hop on a discovery call and talk about your needs and see what we can do for you! 

Amazingly enough, you will find that spending money on your business not only makes you more money, but gives you more time back.