Do you eat, sleep, and breathe your business? It’s common for business owners (especially early on) to go ALL IN on their business to help it get off the ground. From learning the ropes of business ownership and management, to navigating new information, to striving to make it as successful and profitable as possible, there is a lot that is going on from day one of declaring yourself a business!
Choosing to start a business takes grit and determination that often goes unnoticed, and realistically, requires a lot from an individual on a personal and internal level.
Even though intense work ethic is required of business owners, it can still be an incredibly rewarding time. You are likely finally pursing a dream you’ve wanted to for years and you are hopefully meeting a demand that has gone unmet. However, there are many personal boundaries that can unfortunately be easily broken in business ownership due to the high demand of time and energy that is required to help a business take off.
While we fully support you and your business goals to be successful, we feel passionately about educating business owners on what non-montary things they should personally invest in their business in order to maintain their stability and stamina for the long haul.
By keeping these concepts in mind when it comes to your business, you can more appropriately avoid over-investing and over-doing it which could lead to burn out or frustration in the end.
3 Non-Monetary Investments to Make In Business Ownership
1. Invest In Yourself
If we had to guess, we’d say that your day typically starts somewhere between 5 AM and 7 AM with business-related tasks or projects. These could be responding to emails, prepping your inventory, or even reviewing information for an upcoming meeting or presentation.
We next can likely assume that your day doesn’t end until well past 9 PM, with either completing tasks you didn’t get to earlier, wrapping up communications of some kind, or even burning the late night oil doing clean up, new product development, or paying bills. In short, you work long and hard day in and day out.
Are you adequately leaving time for yourself each day? Do you give yourself set time to eat, shower, breathe, and relax? While we truly hope you already do this, we’re here to make sure you KNOW how important it is, especially for new business owners who may not be used to this new working lifestyle.
Investing in yourself is not just meeting the bare minimum of your needs (eating, sleeping, showering, etc.) It involves gifting yourself EXTRA time to recharge, refuel, and recenter.
We love to schedule spontaneous days off with NO work allowed. This sometimes means we schedule a nail appointment, go to brunch with friends, or simply focus on cleaning our house instead of working. These small gifts of time are essential for helping us maintain stamina through the long hours of our busy work days. If you’re not already prioritizing investing in yourself and self-care, make it a priority now!
2. Invest in Education
Nothing could be a better investment than this! Educating yourself on new techniques, strategies, industry-specific information and even trends is a HUGE part of being successful in business.
The great part is that you don’t necessarily have to PAY to learn. You can learn so much on the internet these days all FOR FREE.
Consider doing a Google search of “Free Masterclass on X” (X = your business niche) and see what comes up. Many YouTubers create free content that can have very valuable knowledge.
Additionally, you can find free content in Facebook groups of like-minded business owners, on blog platforms of successful entrepreneurs, and even in your community. Visit your local library website to see what business events they host regularly.
Education can be your best friend in helping you navigate business ownership with confidence. Aim to schedule something educational on your calendar at least once a month!
3. Invest in Your People
Your people in business could be your customers, your employees, your partners, your vendors, your neighbors, even your family members. Anyone that contributes to and supports your business can be considered “your people” and should be invested in!
What does this look like? From a staffing perspective, making sure your employees feel valued and appreciated is an excellent form of investing in them. From a simple thank you card to a spontaneous gift card in their inbox, this will do mighty things for company morale.
From a customer perspective, you can invest in your customers by offering something extra valuable and unique, or in addition to what they are already getting free of charge, to demonstrate that their satisfaction matters to you!
Lastly, investing in your neighbors, family members, or even your spouse by showing them that you consider them a valuable member of your TEAM (aka your village of support) will further lead them to continue supporting you. You need all the support you can get to get through the long grind in the early days, so don’t forget to show your village your gratitude!
Life as a business owner can have so many ups and downs, but your personal health matters just as much as your business success! Don’t let the intensity of your business role take over your whole life.
Instead, focus on prioritizing these investments so that you don’t end the month feeling like your business only took from you. You can give to your business in these small and simple ways and see great results!
Want to learn more? Check out these helpful tips!