Entrepreneurs: Why Now Is Always the Right Time to Invest in Yourself
It’s easy to rationalize why now isn’t the right time to invest in support that will drive long-term growth. Unfortunately, those seemingly rational decisions often create very undesirable outcomes for small business owners. Read on to find out how two identical businesses chose two different paths with two very different outcomes…
“One principle that I believe many investors have forgotten is that they are investing in a business.”
The point Litchtenfeld was making is that when we invest in business, we invest in creative engines that will stop at nothing to overcome challenges to achieve their main purpose: turning a profit!
The quote above hit home as it reminded me of something most small business owners tend to forget:
You are the conductor of that creative, solution-focused energy.
And your business’s purpose (which tops your why) is to make money.
Your livelihood (and that of your employees), after all, depends on it.
As a small business owner, you have to lean into the knowledge that, no matter what, your creativity will solve any challenge and overcome all the hurdles that will be thrown at you. And the quicker you can find those solutions, the faster your business will make more money (aka scale up).
In my private podcast training, The Growth Prescription: Scale your business beyond you—without burnout, chaos, or compromise, I go deep on exactly why you get to know and trust that investing in your business and your development as a leader and owner will yield tremendous results—always.
Forgetting the aforementioned means falling into a costly mindset trap: waiting for the “right time.”
Unfortunately, I’ve seen this time and time again (no pun intended). This very rational and logical-sounding statement has the opposite desired outcome, and only prolongs (and often intensifies) the very challenges the small business owner is looking to overcome. Ultimately, it leads to a very negative impact on finances. This sneaky form of self-sabotage slowly kills the businesses’s growth, and causes a ton of stress and burnout.
The Same Business, Two Very Different Outcomes
A while back, two business owners running identical businesses in different markets independently booked a sales call with me.
Both faced and wanted to overcome very similar challenges:
They both had a love-hate relationship with their business.
They both wanted their businesses to be more profitable and financially stable.
They both wanted to create more free time.
They were both seeking support and guidance with hiring, management, and delegation.
Both business owners were in a financial position to enroll to work with me.
One said yes to coaching, the other didn’t.
Here’s what happened over the course of the year...
Prospect Who Didn’t Hire the Right Support: Stuck in Survival Mode
A year after our initial sales call, I circled back to the prospect who had declined coaching support—and they confessed that things were not going well.
Despite their industry performing well and a nation-wide increase in demand for the services they offered, their business was struggling financially and barely profitable. They also mentioned that a lot of their employees had left the company.
How did this happen?
It stems back to what I mentioned earlier: self-sabotaging behavior.
Misaligned Action: a Nail in the Coffin
During their sales call, this entrepreneur stated they had a deep desire to grow and be financially independent.
But when it came time to take aligned action, i.e., invest to achieve their goals, they decided to invest the money into one of their symptoms (marketing, software, etc.) vs. the actual problem: leadership and scalable systems.
By opting out of their leadership development, operational, and hiring solutions, their real problem intensified, leading to high employee churn and, consequently, impacting their ability to deliver income-producing services.
Now, their business was in financial turmoil with no money to invest in fixing their situation. Unfortunately, this business will now stay stuck in reaction mode longer, diminishing its value—which means it will also be more costly to rectify and set them up for sale in the future.
This is what “waiting for the right time” costs you—momentum, team stability, profit, and loss of value.
Entrepreneur Who Said Yes: Scaling With Ease and Team Buy-In
Here’s what transpired for the client who decided to work with me:
Clarity and direction
Strategic visioning helped this client gain clarity on the direction that would create the best growth—without giving up freedom.
Built an independent leadership team
One of the areas we focused on first was to ensure that the company’s managers were the right fit and helped the business owner to cultivate an ownership mindset within their employees, developing them as empowered leaders who could run the business without the owner’s constant supervision.
Great employee retention
This client’s employees regularly cite how much they love working at the company. Through our strategic coaching sessions, the client was also able to create perks and salaries that are better than most options in the industry.
Expanding to more locations
Now that they had formalized systems, it provided a refined blueprint for hiring and building ownership-thinking teams, which made opening another location easier.
Ready for unforeseen emergencies
About a year after we started working together, my client had a family medical emergency, which took them out of their business for almost eight months. As a result of the work we did leading up to that point, the business continued operating with her management team doing a phenomenal job.
Financial stability
The medical emergency meant more expenses—which my client could afford without worrying about hurting their business or getting into financial trouble.
Increased confidence in leadership
All of the above was possible because our co-creative coaching sessions provided the strategic support and action that helped my client develop and flex their leadership muscle and confidence. We also created sustainable systems that not only freed up time for my client to step away from the business but also set the business up to be more profitable and maintain their clinicians.
These results weren’t coincidences; they are the byproduct of strategic and intentional support and action.
The Real Problem Isn’t the Economy—It’s Your Operating System
Waiting for the right time or economic conditions slows down the growth potential of your business and makes it more expensive to grow in the future.
Growth and profitability come from shifting how you lead, delegate, and make decisions—not just from adding more clients or staff.
The longer entrepreneurs put off investing in strategic leadership support, the longer they stay stuck facing the same old unproductive costly business problems.
What Changes When You Stop Waiting
Here’s what’s possible when you release those sabotaging and very rational-sounding reasons for why now isn’t the right time:
Clarity in leadership
Strategic coaching helps you reach your full potential and become a powerful visionary leading your business to better outcomes that aligns with your impact and money goals.
Sustainable profitability
Stop facing the same feast-or-famine problem, always feeling like you’re starting from scratch, and start running your company while making financially savvy decisions that will allow your business to grow exponentially in a sustainable way.
Empowered team
Acquire the skills that will help you build an empowered and ownership-thinking team that can run your business without time-consuming bottlenecks.
Real time and financial freedom
By having a guide and sounding board, my clients also become better decision-makers, understanding where to invest their most valuable resources: time and money. As a result, they’re able to spot areas where they’re overspending time or where they’re creating bottlenecks and rectify them. They also become better at making decisions that are based on facts versus feelings, which aids company growth and sustainability in the long run!
The Power of Now
Waiting for the perfect time and to feel ready isn’t a strategy; it’s a nail in the coffin of your company’s profitability (and the impact you want to have). The perfect time is always now—it’s a decision and a radical commitment to yourself and your company’s future. And the quicker you make this decision, the quicker you’ll get what you want.
As the saying goes: “Today is a gift; that’s why they call it the present!”
If you found this article useful, read this next:
Case Study: Scaling an Occupational Therapy Practice with Structure, Systems & Strategy
And if you’d like more resources to help you expand your business, check these out:
Get your roadmap to next-level growth: Take this FREE Business Acceleration Assessment.
Read Hanneke’s bestselling book, The Up Level Project.
Work with me: Book a 1:1 consultation with me here.
