Are you scared to

invest in your business?

I get it.

I totally get it.

I bootstrapped my

business seven years ago.

And what that means is I

didn't take a loan out.

I didn't have investors.

It was little old me using my savings

to start my business, which meant at

the beginning, things were really tight.

I had a rule with myself that I would

not spend money until I made money.

Now, there were two things.

that I spent money on.

one was a really bad website on GoDaddy

that I did on the train on the way

into the city because everyone's

like, you need a web presence.

And I didn't think LinkedIn was enough.

anyway, I got rid of that

as soon as I possibly could.

And then the second one was

joining a business school.

The cost to join the business

school for a year was 26, 000.

It sounds like a lot, right?

But I knew that the work

I did would pay it off.

That was my major expense in my

business for two years, 26, 000 a year.

Business school helps clever

people be commercially smart.

And I felt like I needed something

to catch me as I free fall, out of my

corporate role and into my own business.

It felt like the seatbelt that I

needed when I left my corporate

role and it worked a treat.

But also that was something that

I had to discuss with my family.

Would you have taken the risk?

I would love to hear in the comments,

would you have taken that risk?

Women especially are very quick

to invest in their children.

They're quick to invest

in their beauty routines.

They're quick to invest in family

holidays, which is all well and good.

But when you're trying to grow your

business, sometimes it might mean pumping

that little bit extra into the business

or stopping some of that other spending

to allocate that for your business,

especially if you're starting out,

you've got to keep it pretty tight.

People can also not want to invest

in their business or not do big

scary investment because they're

not willing to take the risk.

And I get that too.

Sometimes risks don't pay off

and sometimes they lead to

failure, but no risk, no reward.

In a lot of cases in my second year

of business, I kept getting random

calls from women about another

coach who was taking their money

and not giving them the coaching.

Eventually I worked out.

that this coach had swindled about

250, 000 out of these poor women

who had put their trust in her and

their hard earned savings into her.

And man, did I struggle with this.

And so I offered to coach the

women who came to me for free.

I realize that that sounds

selfless, but hear me out.

It actually wasn't as

selfless as you think.

I just didn't want

coaches to get a bad rap.

because of one rotten egg.

And to be fair, coaches do get a bad rap.

The amount of eye rolls I

used to get was unbelievable.

Luckily after seven years and perhaps

social proof and credibility and

writing a book and all the things

rarely happens these days when it

does happen, I kind of call it and

name it because I just don't want to.

I think it's really inappropriate.

But that's just me.

So I understand why women are

afraid to invest in themselves.

They think to themselves,

what if I get ripped off?

I get that.

What happens if it doesn't work out?

Yep.

What happens if my coach

is not aligned to me?

my question to you is what happens if

it works out and that coach pushes you

to be the very best version of yourself?

What happens if the networks?

That they bring in for you are amazing.

What happens if they believe in you

long enough that you get to catch up?

Surely the positives

outweigh the negatives.

And I'm not saying that there's

only one reason you don't invest.

Actually, I think there are a few.

we can be a bit risk averse.

So many women naturally are, are

risk averse, especially when it

comes to financial investments.

The fear of losing money or seeing, not

seeing a return on investment can be

a pretty big barrier for some people.

Two, self doubt, that pesky imposter

syndrome, that mean girl, can make women

question their worthiness and capability.

And this lack of confidence

can lead to hesitation in

making some bold investments.

which stumps their personal

and their professional growth.

There's a lot of cultural conditioning,

you know, societal norms and

expectations have historically

placed women in more conservative

roles, discouraging them from taking

financial risks or prioritizing

their own development over the family

or social responsibilities, right?

I am so very blessed to be married

to a man who allows me to be me.

And I have always, and will

always be the main bread winner.

And perhaps that motivates me as well.

We have a lack of role models,

the scarcity of visible female

entrepreneurs, and that's going to make

it really hard for women to envisage

themselves succeeding in similar

roles without relatable examples.

The path looks uncertain.

I get that as well.

We have financial constraints.

Women often face unique financial

challenges such as gender pay gap.

Don't even get me started.

Um, career interruptions

because we go and have babies.

And sometimes these things get

in the way from investing in our

business and our personal growth.

We have this funny thing, I

don't know if you know it, but

it's called fear of failure.

The fear of failure and the potential

public scrutiny that comes with it

can feel paralyzing to some women.

Some women feel like they have more to

prove and less room for error, which

can deter them from taking any risks.

I figure everyone's

looking out for themselves.

No one's watching me.

So who cares?

That's just me.

A support system.

women sometimes have a lack of supportive

networks and people saying you can do

this and mentorship and that can make the

journey feel isolating and overwhelming

and women can struggle to find the

encouragement and guidance needed

to confidently invest in themselves.

We got to get under the hood

and work out what's going on.

I reckon you've got a few choices.

Here are my top five.

Build a supportive community.

When I went out to business on

my own, I had my business school

community, but I didn't have

a women in business community.

I couldn't find one that I loved.

So I just created one.

It was called Lunch with the Queen.

It was awesome.

It was just a play on my name.

And I invited 10 cool women

that I wanted to meet.

in real life to lunch.

It was amazing.

engaging with women centric business

groups, mentoring groups, networking

events to connect with like minded

individuals, women who are in

the same kind of place as you.

This is why our Thriving

Women Program is so popular.

A truly supportive group of amazing

women doing incredible things.

By the way, we've just released

tickets today with the Queen.

It's our signature networking

event in Melbourne.

It's on September 6th this year.

Tickets are very limited, but if you

want a safe space to network, come along.

We need to seek mentors.

Finding mentors who have navigated

similar paths and can provide

guidance, support, and encouragement.

Invaluable.

Some you'll need to pay, and that's okay.

and others will be very

happy to share with you.

Two, investing in your

education and training.

There's a caveat on this right,

but you can enrol in courses,

workshops and seminars to enhance

your skills and your knowledge.

This does boost confidence and

competence in your business domain.

My caveat on this one is there are so

many women that I speak to who are like,

maybe I should just do another course.

And they're already good to go.

They just feel like another course

will help them do something.

Procrastinate, uh, that inner mean girl

comes out and says she can't do it.

But instead of going and doing

another course, just go out

and do some more selling.

Go and build some more relationships.

The other thing I would

say is financial literacy.

I did a Bachelor of Commerce.

It did not help me one bit

for running a business.

My hope is that there are more

options out there now to study

entrepreneurial skills and how

to actually run a business.

Women seem to be very good technically

at the thing they're good at.

So if they're good at copywriting, great.

If they're a great coach, great.

But what we seem to be missing is the

business acumen that goes with it.

And so I had to learn really hard,

really fast, and I'm still learning.

But we've got to find people

who can help us with that.

Number three is cultivating

a growth mindset.

Carol Dweck wrote a book called Mindset

and it's an incredible read and she talks

about embracing failure as learning.

So shifting your perspective to view

failures as opportunities for growth and

learning rather than any kind of setback.

Also setting realistic goals.

Breaking down those larger objective,

uh, goals into smaller bite sized

chunks so that you can achieve

those goals and that will build

momentum and confidence over time.

Number four, it bears repeating,

developing financial strategies.

So, creating a budget in Xero or whatever

software you use that allocates funds.

Specifically for your personal and your

business investments Regular saving can

make sure that we alleviate financial

pressure and also having a buffer

which I've spoken about in a previous

episode Really helps us to know that

we're safe if we have a quiet month

There are normally Some grants around

some investment opportunities tailored

for women, not as many as I would like

to see, but there are some around.

And so making sure that you're looking

at all those funding sources for you

and your business, uh, goes a long

way to researching what's out there.

And then five, prioritizing your

self care and your wellbeing.

and balancing.

Okay.

I'm not going to say balancing work and

life, I just think balancing life, right?

ensure that you've got some healthy

balance and you can maintain your

mental and your physical well being

and your emotional well being.

That helps you make clear,

confident decisions.

Practicing mindfulness,

helps with your resilience.

So I practice mindfulness and

meditation every day, journaling.

If journaling is your thing to manage

stress and build resilience against

other challenges, they're just kind

of five things that you can do.

Uh, I hope some of those tips have

been super helpful and I would love

to hear how you go with any of them.

Pick one, try one.

Ditch it if it doesn't work, although

give it long enough to work, but

ditch it if it doesn't work, and

if it does work, let us know.

I'd love to hear.