KNOW HOW FAR TO GO

So I realize that I haven't posted a smart biz tip here in a while and for that I apologize. Today I want to talk about knowing how far to go. This concept applies to many many aspects of your business from purchasing inventory to setting up your website to buying ad space. You have to know how far to and more seriously, how much money to spend.

I have 2 opposite thoughts on this topic. There are times when I think you should go one step beyond where you think you need to be right now and times when I think you should hold back.

Example 1: We'll use my own personal experiences for these, of course. I am working on getting my new website up and running and it's taking quite a long time because I have decided to bite the bullet and get everything that I want now instead of adding little by little to the informational website that I have now. I decided to go this route because a website takes a lot of time and money anyways so I figured that I might as well get what I want knowing that I would want to change it pretty soon if I didn't get everything I want. I think that if you're going to spend a big chunk of change, you should make sure it's going to last you. With projects like these, you might want to go ahead and take yourself one step past where you think you're ready to go.

Example 2: When I was trying to move from printing my personalized items on my cheapo printer to having a printer print them for me, I realized that I didn't need to go that far. It is always more of a hassle when you have to deal with a middleman so I decided to go for the middle step which was to purchase a professional printer. That way, I still saved money and my customers received a better quality product. Now, it is eventually where I want to go, but I just wasn't ready so I took baby steps and it turned out to be very successful for me.

You have to decide for you and your business when to hold back and when to go big. These decisions are hard and unique to you but merely realizing that you can do both gives you tons of freedom and confidence.