There’s no better feeling that watching your business sprout faster than you ever could have expected, right?
Keeping up with your own business’ growth often represents somewhat of a balancing act. On one hand, you want to keep your profits and momentum rolling; however, you don’t want to make the silly mistake of blowing out your business’ budget by taking on a bunch of unnecessary expenses.
As you begin to expand, you should consider first and foremost the types of investments that tick the following boxes:
- Make your business appear larger than life to those who aren’t familiar with you (think: coming off as a full-fledged company versus a solopreneur)
- Open you up to new networking opportunities and business partnerships
- Provide you the most bang for your buck and are essentially low-risk
But what do these sorts of upgrades look like?
If your business has stuck to a shoestring budget but you think it’s time to take your company to the next level, consider the following cost-effective investments that can help your business grow.
Entity Formation
The benefits of forming your business into a C-Corp are three-fold as you protect your business from a tax perspective, make yourself look bigger on paper and limit potential liability if you find yourself in a sticky legal situation.
Many business owners sleep on entity formation because they either don’t understand the process or feel that it’s reserved for bigger enterprises. The fact remains that any business should weigh their options in terms of entity formation sooner rather than later, especially those working on their own.
Co-working Space
The need for face-to-face networking simply can’t be overstated in the digital era. Even if you’re a solopreneur or a digital nomad, personal connections can be potentially transformative for any given business.
Paying for access to a buzzing co-working space not only helps you meet some fresh faces, but also ensures that you get out of the office from time to time (whether at home or your home office). Although meeting new people face-to-face may not seem to directly correlate with growing your business, but it’s perhaps the best way to connect your business to your local community of entrepreneurs depending on your industry.
Marketing Makeover
The old adage of “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” might seem to make sense for those of us who are already bringing in plenty of business. However, it never hurts to give yourself and brand a bit of a marketing makeover once you have some extra cash on hand you should compare marketing automation tools and subsequently implementing the tool that fits your business best. For example, it may be helpful to take a step back and audit your company site and social presence regarding…
- Your on-site SEO: if your traffic isn’t where you think it should be, it might be time to invest in some new content creation or a link-building campaign
- Your site design and calls-to-action: if you notice a lot of bounced traffic or visitors failing to convert, you may need to rethink your site from a UX perspective
- Your social engagement: social ads via Facebook are a solid option if you have the budget for them andknow how to effectively A/B test your ads
Upgrading your budding business doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Focusing on these investments will not only keep your budget in check but also maintain the momentum of your business’ current growth.