Invest and advertise to start making a profit
Money doesn’t appear in your business until you make the commitment to growth
Dear Money Lady, I quit my job and started a home-based business 18 months ago and can barely survive. How can I start making more money? Please help!
— Rhonda.
Dear Rhonda, you can’t help the poor and starving if you are the poor and starving!
There are so many fabulous entrepreneurs who, like yourself, are eager to help people and change the world with their wonderful work.
Unfortunately, if they don’t master how to get paid, they will end up broke.
Sometimes it could be a simple change of your mindset or even your daily routine to prosper and improve. Or it could be a total business overhaul needed to get you back on track again.
When you start a business, you usually start off small and try to do things on the cheap. You are watching every dollar and certainly don’t want to pay for something that you could do yourself.
You start with passion, drive, determination and you are living the mantra: selfemployed people work 16 hours a day for themselves, so they don’t have to work eight hours a day for someone else.
OK, I get it, you’re really working it! The problem is, money doesn’t appear in your business until you make the commitment to your next level of growth by investing money into it.
I know it is hard to hear but, when you invest time, energy and money into increasing your income, you take yourself seriously and others do too.
So, with that being said, it is important to make a distinction between good debt and bad debt. Bad debt is consumer debt, like clothes, vacations, cars and restaurants.
Good debt is borrowing money to grow your business exponentially so that you have a better product, can increase your market share, advertise and get more customers.
Yes, you do have to pay off your debt eventually, but, when you start a business, you want to make enough money so that those start-up debts don’t matter.
Not advertising, not marketing, not selling, not going to networking events or being active on social media sites and especially not making calls will cost you a bundle. If you are not paying for advertising, what are you saving, if no one knows who you are?
I know that small business owners have tight budgets, so why not look for possibilities to make extra money in other areas of your business.
You want to start creating multiple streams of income, so you are never reliant on just one.
Invent a new product that will supplement your product line, write a book, start blogging, start a podcast or Youtube channel. Could you teach a workshop or put on a Zoom-class/meetup to get people interested in your business?
Why not write a newsletter about your business and start selling ads in your newsletter from like-minded businesses and add them to your website too.
Look for ways to collaborate with your competition — they might be interested in working with you to grow your brands together.
Let everyone know in your community what you do, have a social at a community center, be a guest speaker at local clubs, have an openhouse event and put your business cards in all the local stores.
You must beat the bushes if you hope to get people interested and, remember, even with the age of social media, word of mouth is still the best way to get good business.
Good luck and best wishes, Christine Ibbotson