Money Saving Tips for Small Business – Can You Afford to be Cheap?

As a solo entrepreneur, you know you have to invest in your business. But how do you know where to invest your money for the best return? When can you afford to be thrifty, and when should you avoid cutting corners?

Here are three tips to help you spend your money wisely.

1. Does it affect your brand?

When it comes to building and protecting your brand, don’t cut corners.  You want a consistent, professional brand image.

Let me give you a few quick examples.

I’m running a group coaching program and have developed a special members’ area. I made sure to use the same colors and look that I use on my main website. I also invested in a special program to allow the participants to easily interact with one another and with me.

Here’s another example, and in this one I did something smart and something stupid. I’m creating an affiliate program for my new Home Study Program, “Dominate Your Niche with a Personal Brand that Sells YOU”. I researched various affiliate software programs and at first chose one that was inexpensive but was recommended to me by a trusted colleague. The problem was that it didn’t protect my brand because it led the customer away from my site into another system. No good. So I researched some more and came across another program that was highly recommended. It looked great. The problem was I decided I could install it myself. I’m pretty tenacious and spent hours doing the install, and I still messed it up.  What a waste of time. I could have paid to have it installed for me – and the installation cost is not even expensive!  What was I thinking?  This leads me into tip #2.

2. Does it allow you to leverage your time?

If you can pay someone else to do something that doesn’t leverage your time and talents, doesn’t it make sense to do so? That way, you can spend your time on lead-generating and money-making activities.

I’m not suggesting you outsource everything. In fact, I think it’s a good idea to learn enough about the activity that you can outsource it intelligently.  That means you know what you’re looking for and in some cases, know enough that you can tweak things as you like. A perfect example is your website. Say you’re using WordPress.org (which I highly recommend). You may hire a web designer to build your site for you, but you need to learn enough about WordPress to maneuver around your site.

3. Does it help you get unstuck and move your business forward?

This is a really important question. How many times have you invested in a program because it was marketed so well that you didn’t want to miss out? The big gurus are all plugging it, and everyone else is doing it, so you’ve just got to get on board. Before you invest, ask yourself this question. Is this program going to help you overcome a hurdle that you’re facing in your business right now?  If not, then understand that you’re only going to retain (at most) 50 percent of the information you learn, so that by the time you get around to implementing it, you’ve lost a tremendous amount of value. That is, if you get around to implementing it all.

Figure out where you’re stuck in your business, and then invest in the help you need to overcome that particular hurdle so you can take your business to the next level.

And above all, remember this. There is no magic bullet. The answers and the solutions are within you. Sometimes you need a little help and guidance to find those answers, but you have to make the solution your own.

That’s why I love what I do, on two levels. I help solo entrepreneurs find and attract their ideal niche. And at the heart of their niche is themselves. What solution do they provide for their target market? I help people find that solution within themselves.

On the second level, is coaching. A coach is a guide, support system, accountability partner, and soundboard. By asking the right questions, I help my clients find the answers within themselves. Investing in a good coach is going to help you over the hurdles. Find a coach who has expertise in the challenge you’re currently facing, and then trust the process and look within yourself to find the answers you need. You’ll be amazed at what you find.

What tips do you have to help small business owners invest wisely? Share your tips in the comments below. And, oh yeah, thanks for helping me spread the word by sharing this on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Warm wishes