Investing in your business is a scary, scary thing. Money in general is just scary, right?! As much as we don’t want it, we have to have it!!

We need to eat, pay our bills, pay our rent/mortgage, etc.. So to think about investing in our business in the first year is terrifying, right?! (Now, I’m not here to tell you that I made amazing financial decisions last year; in fact, there are lots of things I did wrong & I’m putting new methods in place for this year!) But there are a few investments I made in my first year of business that I want to share with you …

 

1. Invest in Your Brand. To be honest, going through the process with Ashlee allowed me to see WHAT my brand even IS!! We all know that the visual representation of a brand is important – our website is like our storefront, our paper goods make the details go the extra mile and having additional collateral push your brand even further. I knew I would be getting all of that! What I wasn’t prepared for was what would change IN ME – how I would really start to understand the passion I have for Dear Sweetheart Events, the core values I want my business to portray and the ideal brides I want to attract. Of course, it’s still a learning process, and I know DSE will evolve as time goes on & my business changes. But I am so, so thankful I invested in working with Ashlee Proffitt in my first year of business!

2. Invest in Education which leads to Relationships. I did a mentor session with Natalie Franke last March (crazy to think it’s been almost 1 year ago … so much can happen in one year!!) She is by far the BEST encourager and I know whenever we text or Google chat I’m going to leave the conversation feeling more empowered and capable. There are so many AMAZING leaders in the creative industry, and I highly suggest you seek one out for a mentor or coaching session.To be honest, my relationship with Natalie is how I want all my one-on-one girls to feel with me!!

I also attended 3 workshops/conferences last year: Making Things Happen, Amanda Veronee’s Wedding Floral Workshop & Katelyn James’ Small Business Social. Each one taught me something different, and while I learned skills at each one that were unlike the other, there is one common factor: I found community! I found women who GET IT, who understand what it’s like to be a boss lady & who encourage me to dream bigger!! Finding community in this industry reminds you that you aren’t in this alone; and it’s such an amazing feeling to be able to share life, love, business, Jesus, and whatever else comes our way together! I STRONGLY suggest investing in a mentor/coaching session and/or attend a workshop or two that you think are right for you!

3. Invest in Your Strengths. I know what you’re thinking – “what in the world is this girl talking about?!”:) Let me explain… I read an amazing post by Jasmine Star years ago that stuck with me. She was talking about investing in terms of photography but let’s face it, you know by now I’ve learned a lot of what I know by reading & chatting with photographers:) In a nutshell, she explained that while some people will tell us to invest in our weaknesses, we need to invest in our STRENGTHS. Friends, I LOVE this!! So much. It was like a light bulb went off in my head!! There are absolutely areas in my business that I am weak (I’ll blog that later!), however in my first year of business I needed to act on my strengths & not focus on the weaknesses. Being a boss lady is HARD; if we sit around focusing on what we DON’T do well, and investing TIME and MONEY into the areas we really, really struggle in so early on in our business, I think we are setting ourselves up for failure. I wanted to invest in that areas I knew I could excel in vs. invested in areas that might fail. For me, that meant my brand – having a clear vision for what DSE was all about. It also meant investing in my blog. Is my blog custom? No. But it’s perfect for me right now & I knew I wanted a clear platform to speak from. It also meant investing in educating myself & investing in my relationships, because I need community & friendship & women on my side.

Do I think we need to invest in the areas we aren’t so strong in to allow them to become stronger – absolutely!! I recently invested in a really great accountant because bookkeeping and taxes are NOT my friend!!:) I highly recommend we outsource the things we don’t do well so that they CAN be done well! But in the first year of business, we have to really pick and choose the areas we invest in. And rather than dwelling on the negative, I say you take advantage of what you CAN do – and your rock that!!:)

 

[line]

 

What investments did you make in your first year that you found to be the most valuable?! I’d love to hear:)

xo!! kat

(( Photo by Rachel May Photography ))