How to overcome your fears of investing in your business
What scares you most about your business?
(Talk about an icebreaker, right?)
I’ll go first: I’m afraid if my business fails, I won’t be able to continue supporting my family with my earnings. That not only my family, but my team’s families, will lose out on the ability to earn good money doing work we love.
Fear can be a significant driver of my life, if I’m being honest. I tend to look around at what could go wrong versus what could go right, and I feel the gap between the perceived “safety” of my fears and the goals and dreams that stand just on the other side of those fears. Bridging this gap isn’t easy, in fact it can be some of the hardest work we ever do in our lives (because all of us have this fear gap in some aspect of our lives).
Even if you can wear a really good game face in your business, the reality is that you probably have fears there too: fears holding back your business’s success and growth. And I’m willing to bet one of those fears is the fear of investing in your business.
In this post, we’re going to explore the common fears around investing in your business—and how to break through these barriers to experience the brand growth that’s just on the other side.
Let’s dive in!
You feel you haven’t made enough money yet
How often have you been asked, “So what do you do?” and you respond with: “Me? Oh, I just have a little business.”
I get it. Until our businesses earn a certain dollar amount (which, by the way, is highly subjective to each and every one of us), we feel we “just have a little business.” We don’t take ourselves seriously, and we don’t ask anyone else to, either.
Feeling that you “haven’t made enough money yet” to invest in your business isn’t a money issue. It’s a confidence issue.
I know multi-6 figure businesses that hesitate to invest a few thousand dollars into their branding. I’ve also worked with start-ups that haven’t made a dime yet but have invested five figures into their brand.
When your business is struggling to make ends meet, it truly can be difficult to justify the additional expense of investing in your business. Sometimes if the money isn’t there, it really isn’t there. Our studio never asks our potential clients to go into debt to invest in their branding, because we believe that branding can and should be a realistic investment for businesses of nearly every size.
When you’re facing your fear of investing in your business, but you feel you just haven’t made enough money yet to take the next step, follow these tips:
Consider the long-term benefits over short-term costs. For instance, if you’re considering a rebrand investment but are unsure if your business is “successful enough” to justify the investment, remember that your new brand will increase your customer base, deepen your clients’ loyalty to your business, improve your brand awareness, and help you carve a distinct foothold in the overcrowded online space. Remember, branding is an investment, not a cost
If your business really can’t afford to make a big investment right now, try breaking down your goal into smaller steps. Pursue a brand on a budget and continue saving up for your “dream home” brand down the road. Get savvy about improving your systems and processes internally so you can earn more in your business, or consider setting aside just a small amount each month so you can make that big investment a year from now.
Finally, ask yourself: Why do I tie my worth to a certain dollar amount?. What is it about earning consistent 5 figures, or 6 figures, or whatever it is, that will make you feel like you have a “real business”? Let me tell you a secret from experience: once you hit that goalpost, it moves on you. You can reach that milestone, yet your fears will still come with you. If it truly is a math problem (you need to earn a minimum of $X in order to earn a viable salary in your business), learn to disassociate your confidence and fears from that dollar amount and identify the amount you can invest right now.
Juggling multiple priorities is causing analysis paralysis
One of my art directors at Disney used to say: “We’ve got a lot of alligators in our pond, so let’s tackle the closest one first.” Of course, my art director wasn’t literally suggesting we go out and wrestle gators on our lunch break. (Despite what the news may say, not every Florida man enjoys hand-to-hand combat with lethal reptiles.) He was stating the importance of keeping priorities straight, especially when there are too many to handle all at once.
Running a small business involves too many needs that require your time and money all at the same time. You’re overdue investing in new product development; you’ve put market research on the back burner for years; and you’re already paying for ad space in your local magazines to promote your brand.
When you’re battling numerous priorities, it’s easy for fear to set in as your focus is pulled in multiple directions—and everything feels equally make-or-break for your business. Busyness begets stress which begets fear. At this stage, it’s crucial to decide which investment will bring the most return and free up the most efforts.
When you’re battling numerous priorities, it’s crucial to decide which investment will bring the most return and free up the most efforts.
In other words, you’re standing in that pond, fighting off multiple alligators and not sure which one to fend off first. The solution is to make the fight smarter, not harder.
Determine your highest priority and reverse engineer which investments will lead to that goal. Is your time being sucked up by manually handling administrative tasks, like issuing invoices, offering customer support, and reordering products? Consider streamlining and automating your internal processes by investing in backend systems or an online business manager’s expertise to find optimizations. Or is your problem external—not enough leads, attracting low-paying clients, and struggling with knowing how to most effectively market your business? Branding can consolidate your marketing efforts by improving your brand’s image in the market, elevating your brand messaging to attract the right kinds of clients, and making it easier for you to offload social media marketing to others.
The reality is, you likely can’t invest in everything at once: so think through which investment is not necessarily the highest priority, but which one will free up your need for the other investments or will do the heavy lifting of multiple needs at the same time.
You’re afraid you won’t get the money back
The biggest fear around investing in our businesses is a fear of not seeing the money come back to it. And let’s be honest: this is a very real concern. While our fear signal isn’t always helpful (such as when fear holds us back from making a decision we know is right), it is just trying to keep us safe from losing valuable resources.
Instead of sweeping this fear under the rug, it’s wisest to tackle it head-on. Any large business expense, such as rebranding, really is a significant investment and it’s natural to seek assurance that it will pay off.
I have these internal dialogues every time I’m planning to invest into my own business as well, whether it’s coaching, mentorship, education, or resources. First, my husband (who handles business development and finance for the studio) and I evaluate the investment cost weighed against the potential profit as a result of that investment. Then we decide if that potential profit is worth the cost of the investment.
I often walk potential branding clients through a similar exercise as well— because my #1 priority in working with a client is for it to be a wise decision for them. In fact, I’ve often turned away potential branding projects because it didn’t seem like it was the right step for the person at the time.
If you’re considering a rebrand and anticipate you can return at least 3-5x your investment, it’s probably going to be worth it.
Remember, any investment into your business—whether brand design, or hiring a new team member, redesigning your website, or renting a storefront—is going to cost a little on the front end, but the back end of that investment should yield a multiplied return that’s worth waiting for.
It’s natural to bring your hesitations and fears when making an investment decision, and the best way to overcome these fears is to bring pen to paper and let the numbers speak for themselves.
Investing in your business is a part of the journey of entrepreneurship, and I can tell you that unfortunately it doesn’t get any easier with time. As your business grows, your fears don’t shrink; it’s just that the size of your needed investments grows. However, keeping these tips in mind—considering the long-term benefits, disassociating your confidence from your profitability, working smarter not harder, and letting the numbers speak to your fears—can help you make informed decisions from a place of safety and self-assurance.
If investing in your brand is on your list of business investments causing stress, we’d love to offer you a completely free consultation call. During this session, we’ll talk through your hesitations and fears, your business needs, and your priorities to help determine with you whether branding is the right decision for your business at this time. We’re known to be honest with our clients, so rest assured we only have your best interests in mind! We’d love to help talk through your needs and point you in the right direction.
