There Is No Such Thing as “Bad” Investments
In today’s episode, I’m going to share some of my personal experiences when it comes to investing. I want to reflect back on the investments I’ve made to hit seven figures in my business.
While most investments have been great, some didn’t pan out the way I expected them to. I’ll dive into what to look for when it comes to investing as well as what I’ve learned so far from my investments.
But before we dive in, let me introduce myself. My name is Megan Yelaney, and I have built two six-figure businesses and one multi-six-figure business by fully embracing my authentic self and not trying to hide the quirks that make me, ME.
So if you’re a female entrepreneur looking to learn, grow your business strategies and mindset, and scale your biz to multiple six figures while having fun doing it…you’re in the right place, girl! Because I made this podcast exactly for YOU!
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“Bad” Investments, Point #1: A couple of my “bad” investment experiences.
Within the last 2 years, I invested in a company to help me develop my funnels.
This was also going to help me bring in passive income. I was really excited about it!
So in 2019, I hired a company and one thing led to another. All of a sudden it was June and I didn’t have funnels or anything that I had signed up for really.
Long story short, it ended up being a horrible experience. I got some of what I paid for but it was not good quality. The entire process was confusing.
I was a little disheartened by this but moving into this year, I decided to make another investment. This was during quarantine around April. I was living in Brooklyn and couldn’t leave the apartment, so I had a lot of time on my hands.
I invested in another company to help me develop funnels. They would also do social media and assist in repurposing content. Once again, months pass by and once we arrive in August of this year, nothing has been done.
By this point, I was wondering what was going on. I didn’t know if it was me or the choices I was making with the companies. I had put this huge amount of time, energy, and money into these investments. However, I’ve learned some big lessons from doing so.
“Bad” Investments, Point #2: Lessons I’ve learned from my “bad” investments.
I have learned so much from these “bad” investments.
One of the biggest things I learned is what to look for when determining if it is a worthwhile investment. I also learned how I played a part in this. While it’s on the company or coach I am investing in to meet the expectations they advertise, I may have played a role in how things turned out as well.
I am in a six-week life coaching program right now, and during it, we focused on calling out our saboteurs. A lot of times, we self-sabotage and don’t realize it. It’s an interesting concept because even if you have a seemingly perfect childhood, there are things you have to learn and develop.
We all have saboteurs. I will link to a free assessment you can take as well to discover your saboteurs, link will be at the bottom of the show notes. This brought to light my top saboteurs, my number one is people-pleasing.
After realizing this, I’ve been focusing on how to deal with my people pleaser and address it. During this time, I also had to make massive shifts in my team which forced me to attack my people pleaser head-on.
This people-pleasing saboteur has also become clear to me as I was working through a recent investment where deadlines and meetings got pushed back.
While that company did mess up, I also let them off the hook. I was very understanding and patient with them.
I quickly realized that being nice is bullshit.
By being “nice” while you are frustrated, I was so against my values. I wasn’t being honest with them about how I was feeling, I was people-pleasing.
I learned an expensive lesson from this, being direct is not mean. You can be direct and kind at the same time.
“Bad” Investments, Point #3: What to look for when it comes to investing.
When it comes to looking for investments, have set timelines.
Make sure these timelines are in very clear contracts.
That way, if this specific thing doesn’t get done by this specific date, it’s in breach of the contract. There are certain deliverables you can make sure happen on a deadline. The next thing is to do your research. Do thorough research on the testimonials and the people that they’ve worked with.
Find out whether they communicate well and meet deadlines. Reach out to those people that have worked for this company and interview them. Get information from them about how their experience was working together.
For me, I know that this year when I made my next investment, communication was horrible. So always make sure you are investing in a service that you know will communicate and meet deadlines.
You also want to determine what they communicate to you.
Determine the how, what platform, how often, and what updates will they provide.
Another huge thing to do is set up the meeting occurrence. Whether you need weekly meetings, biweekly, or monthly. Make sure this is set up and planned.
Also, make it clear that it’s not tolerated to delay meetings unless there’s an emergency.
Get clear on metrics and standards.
You can also ask how many clients they take on, and whether they can truly serve you at the level you need. I know that the company I had invested in recently had a big influx of clients, therefore, they couldn’t serve me in the way I needed. I know that moving forward, these are things I will be looking for before investing again.
There Is No Such Thing as “Bad” Investments: Main Takeaways
I hope this episode was helpful and that you can take these tips into account when investing. Remember, communication and timelines are the most crucial aspects to cover before making any investment! I also want to mention, this is all based on my own experiences. Someone else may have their own experiences, but this is just what I’ve learned and taken away from investments I’ve made.
And as always, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay #PrettyAwkward!