When Investing Counts

We all love a bargain and when you’re growing your own business there is so much expense associated with that initial outlay that any money-saving hacks are always welcomed.
However, if you’re a quality business there are times when those financial shortcuts simply won’t do and painful as it might be, spending on quality is the best option all round.
Whether you’re buying computer software or the latest microtitre plate filters getting the best you can is vital to avoid pitfalls later along the road.
We look at areas of your growing business you’re going to want to invest in.
As business savvy as you are there are going to be areas of your business that you simply don’t have all the necessary skills for and often these lie in things like advertising, marketing and PR.
You might know who your customer base is, broadly speaking, but it takes a professional to really drill down into your markets and find out who’s visiting and interacting on your website, what they do when they’re there and how best to draw them in, in the first place. You need marketers who know how to tap and target these segmented audiences. To figure out where they spend their working lives and where they hang out on social media. You need PR experts to work out what targeted markets a press release should go to and where advertising will and will not work.
As tempting as it is to save money and fly solo, trying your hand at marketing can be a frustrating and ultimately futile endeavour if you don’t know what you’re doing. Interview a broad selection of agencies to help you or start building your own in-house team if you think it would be an on-going and worthwhile investment.
Another area to consider heavier investment is in the team you’re building around you, or if you’re a solo entrepreneur look at increasing your own skills set.
One of the best investments you’ll make is equipping your team to take on ever more complex areas of your business that in turn will see them and your business flourish. Trained up staff will invest their time in seeing your company grow and help to streamline your costs as you avoid the need to take on expensive consultancy work.
Finally a word on software. If there’s one area of your IT systems you need to invest in, it’s security. It simply isn’t an option. A well-protected network is one that can withstand a cyber attack and in the long-run protect you and your customers from serious financial loss. Get your system protected, avoid the free protection downloads and pay for some heavy-duty anti-virus software to protect you, should the worse happen.
There will be plenty of areas that you’ll be able to shave costs off but when it comes to security, staff and your marketing it’s time to loosen the purse strings and invest in your own success now and for the future.