I Made a Bad Business Investment: Key Lessons

Hey Friend!

Investing in your business can be a game changer when done right. However, sometimes it can be hard to discern between a good business investment and a bad business investment. It’s important that you take the time to know the difference so you can grow your business and not accidentally waste your time, money, and resources.

How do you avoid a bad business investment? The first step is to know that any business owner can make a bad investment. Sometimes we make a poor business investment when we haven’t taken the time to discern our decision carefully, we haven’t fully researched the details, or we haven’t crunched the numbers. Other times, we make rash decisions or don’t take the time to pray over our decisions.

It’s okay if you’ve made a bad business investment before, we all have. In fact, I am going to go over a bad business investment that I recently made (one that cost me thousands of dollars) and the big lessons that I want to share with you. What’s important now is that you make wise investments going forward, so you don’t waste valuable resources. If you want to avoid investments that don’t have a valuable ROI for you, keep reading to find how to avoid bad business investments. These lessons on how to choose a good business investment (and avoid a bad one) will be imperative for you as you move forward and continue to grow your podcasting business.

Lesson 1: Always Pray Before Making a Business Investment

My Big Bad Investment Story

Don’t make business investments that you have not prayed over and discerned through carefully. Be wise with your money, your time, and your trust. Sometimes you might make a wrong decision if you don’t take the time to bring the idea to God in prayer.   

Not too long ago, I made a rash decision with a business investment that went horribly wrong. A friend of mine recommended a potential person (let’s call the person “Jane”) to do PR work for my business. My friend was enamored by the sales pitch, and I thought that if my friend was going with Jane that I should too. 

Instead of praying and opening up to read my Bible to see if this would be a good fit for my business, I made a quick decision to submit a request to work with Jane. I didn’t even sleep on it. Neglecting prayer was my first misstep that eventually led to the bad business investment. 

Lesson 2: Research Your Potential Investment Before You Commit

Not only did I forget to pray, I didn’t take any time to research Jane’s website for reputable testimonies, or look for proof that Jane’s work was legitimate. Make sure you do your research so you don’t fall into a bad business investment like I did.

Before investing in your business, ask yourself these questions:

•  Is this person getting results for other people? Listen to the testimony of others who have had positive experiences with their purchase. You need to discern if this person has the next right solution that you are looking for. 
• Does this person have results that they can prove? Do they have a portfolio of professional work?

Take time to research your potential business investment before you commit. You can do it in just twenty minutes of your time, and I promise it will be worth it.

Lesson 3: Calculate the ROI on the Business Investment

After hearing back from Jane, we came to an agreement, and I spent approximately $15,000 on this partnership. I didn’t crunch the numbers or think about how many sales I would need to make my money back. Don’t do like I did. Please take the time to calculate the ROI.

How to calculate the ROI:

Calculate if and when the business investment will give you a measurable return. Let’s say you spend a thousand dollars on new leads and get a thousand in profits. It’s okay if you break even because you still have new leads to continue to nurture. These new leads are a measurable return for you for future potential business. 

Let’s say you invest $500 in an online course. Calculate how long the course takes, and what the outcome of the course will be. If you show up with 100% effort to complete the course (or whatever the thing is) in the way the person tells you to do it, what will that outcome be? Then you have to decide if it is worth the investment or not.

Lesson 4: If You Make a Bad Investment, Try to Resolve Any Issues Within Your Control

If you are in a place where you think you have made a bad investment, the best thing for you to do is take some time for self-reflection to see what may have gone wrong so you can avoid making the same mistake in the future. 

Shortly after investing in Jane, I started to realize that I was getting a lot of ideas but no execution. This person was promising a lot of things but not doing it. I had to chase this person and do my own follow-up. This was really strange, but I was erring on the side of grace. But I realized I was making excuses as I didn’t want to face reality. 

After eight months of zero sales, I started to talk to people around me to see if they had similar experiences working with Jane. People started to tell me that Jane ran off with their money. There was story after story about bad blood. I quickly realized that I could have avoided all of this if I had simply done some research and spent some time in prayer before taking the plunge.

Lesson 5: If You Make a Bad Investment, Bring the Situation to God

Once I discovered that I wasn’t going to get any results, I realized I would either have to sue or let the situation go. I had to really surrender this to God. I decided not to sue and relinquished the problem to God. I asked Him to help me forgive her. Shortly after, one day at church there was an offering where I felt led to give a large amount of money. In my head, I was thinking I just lost 15,000, I don’t even have the money to give. But I felt the peace of the Lord so I trusted God and gave money to the initiative.

God Works Miracles on our Behalf

The very next day Jane sent me half of the investment back.  She said to make good on the situation, she was giving half of the money back. This was after twelve to eighteen months of me reaching out to her with no resolution. I had even said to my friends that if I got half my money back I would be over the moon, so happy. And that’s exactly what happened. That was a testament to God’s goodness in my life even when I made this business mistake!

Lesson 6: Don’t Be Afraid to Invest in Yourself

Do not be afraid to invest in yourself. It is worth it. You may be in a season right now thinking about the next step for your business. Don’t hold so tightly to your money that you never invest in yourself. 

Thankfully, in my many years of business, I have only made a couple of bad investments. Every time I’ve ever said yes to an investment it has benefited me in some way; Even the bad investments helped me grow because I learned what not to do in future investments.

You have to be learning something new to keep growing. You must take a course, hire a coach, or join a group mastermind. If you don’t, you will stay stuck, frustrated, and overwhelmed in your business.

Next Steps : It’s Time to Invest in Yourself

Investing in yourself is a must. It’s an absolute. Look for a way to grow every quarter, and maintain that next-level vision. Pray over your next steps. If you are thinking about a particular investment, research and crunch the numbers.  Ask God what the next step is to move forward in your business and how you can glorify Him as you move forward. If you have that perspective, you will make business investments that will catapult you into where He’s taking you.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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