Welcome to episode 10 of the Stephanie Kase Podcast! Today, we’re going to talk about how I would invest $500 if I was starting my business today! I think this episode will be a lot of fun. And, I hope that this episode inspires you to think about starting your business in the right direction quickly. There’s three things I would do if I had $500 to start my business on the right foot, so let’s dive in!

Education

The first thing I’d invest in is education. When I say business education, I mean paying someone else to help me get where I want to go faster. As I’ve gone through my own business, I’ve really come to understand how valuable quality education really is. This is education that meets you where you are and helps you with what you truly need help with. It’s still valuable now, even years into my business – but I think it’s even more so when you’re starting out.

This could look like a digital course, products to help you implement new things, or even joining a mastermind. While you can totally piece together information from Google or YouTube, there is no substitution for someone who is being paid to invest back into you, too. Make sure you vet the programs or education that you’re looking at so that you know it’s exactly what you need. One of the important things to ask is if you see that person doing things in their business that you want to do. If they are, they’re probably going to be a good fit. Make sure you connect with them well, and have great free education. Those are things I look for before paying someone to teach me anything!

Email List

Now, the second thing I would invest $500 in when I started my business is my email list. I personally believe that your email list is one of your biggest assets as a small business owner. No matter what kind of business you run, building a list of past and potential clients or people on a waitlist is important so you can sell to them during promotional periods in your business. I’m actually planning on an episode soon about why I love my email list more than social media, which might surprise people.

An email list is just more intimate to me and a way to connect more personally with the people who really want to be a part of my brand. The other thing is that if social media is lost, hacked, or shut down, you lose your community. But an email list is the one place that you will be able to keep your list safe and it’s yours. Not to mention, you never have to fight an algorithm for emails! Anyway, that $500 could go towards signing up for a marketing platform. You could also invest in education specifically about building an email list and email marketing.

Outsourcing

The last thing that I would invest $500 towards when starting my business would be outsourcing. Obviously, when you start out, outsourcing will look much smaller or different than hiring a full-time team member. But, if it’s something you can do right away, I encourage you to! Early on, you’ll be able to let go of certain tasks and see yourself grow faster because you can focus on what you do best. I see it over and over in my own business. Even though it always feels like a leap of faith, every time I hire someone new, the business grows.

In my first year of business, I paid someone to do my taxes. It was the best $200 I ever spent! He helped take care of everything I didn’t know how to do when it came to taxes, and he still helps us now. That was the first baby step I took in terms of outsourcing. After I got a handful of clients, I hired a photo editor next. From there, it was important to think about what I didn’t have time to do or didn’t want to do. That’s how I continued to build my team and outsource. While I think there is value in learning how to do everything in your business at first, the growth I’ve seen because I’ve outsourced has been incredible. You can spend your time focusing on what only you can do (or things that aren’t your business!).

There you go! There’s the three things I would invest $500 on when starting my business. I hope that this was helpful for you!!

If you’re listening and you have ideas about what to talk about next, please send in your requests! I really do want to know what you want to hear about in future episodes. Email me at [email protected] with your questions!! I can’t wait to hear from you!