Hey there, I’m back and writing blog posts on my website again. Had to take a couple weeks to get through a lot of client work, but I’m back.
But instead of doing an email breakdown this week, I want to impart some general business wisdom I learned while at the first live Mastermind for my Accelerator coaching group (part of the Copy Chief umbrella.) in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida.
I was going to write this the day after I returned from the Sunshine State, but again, I was busy.
So anyways, some quick background.
My Most Burning Business Question
My business exploded merely weeks into the pandemic in 2020. Odd timing, given the entire rest of the economy shutting down. Perhaps it’s because my business is entirely online.
But my revenues immediately jumped from “entry-level salary” to just under the monthly equivalent of six figures (revenue, not profits).
Being the financially wise person I am, I only took some for myself. The rest went towards things like paying down my business credit card, Copy Chief membership, new software, some copywriting books, and maybe a course or two.
Eventually, I joined the Accelerator coaching group mentioned earlier. And then, I even hired an assistant!
In short: I reinvested into the business to grow faster.
And as I did, I landed bigger clients and earned more revenues. My profits were several times higher, but my living expenses only increased a little bit after a move.
But at that point, I ran out of investment ideas (aside from a new computer and some ergonomic home office equipment).
So I’m now making several times what I used to make — both in terms of raw revenue, and in my personal income relative to my expenses.
That means I have tons of extra money, and no idea what to invest it in next.
That was my most burning question that I brought to this Accelerator mastermind meetup.
The answer I received was shockingly simple…
The Answer
Just save up the money and build an “F U” funds. Yes, F U is short for *expletive* you.
Basically, save and invest enough money so that you aren’t at the whims of any particular client… or any clients.
Have enough money where, if all your income dries up, you can live a comfortable (albeit more frugal) life for at least a year.
Seems obvious, but when you’re a fast-growing sole proprietor, you’re kind of blind to that. You think “what else are other people at my level investing in? Software? Courses? Team members?”
When really, at a certain point in the copywriting business, you can just coast for a while as you improve your skills…
And it turns out that the most productive thing you can do at my stage of business is quite literally save more money and invest the rest to grow it.
It’s effectively “buying peace of mind.” Each dollar you save buys you a little peace of mind that, if business dries up, you’re financially fine.
But it gets deeper.
Having that extra wealth set aside lets you get more choosy with your clients. You don’t need the money from any particular client…
So you don’t need to beg for their money. You can charge what you’re worth and if things don’t work out, you can move on to the next client worry-free.
Or, you can scale back on the client work and do some biz dev activities (pretty meta, that’s what I’m doing by writing this). You can work on certain activities that require a time and energy investment (as opposed to money), but pay off in the future.
Effectively, you’re converting those extra dollars into units of time you can invest into your business.
Invest In Your Business By Not Investing In It
The biggest lesson I learned here is you can invest in your business by not investing in it.
Simply stockpiling funds/assets for yourself — like savings and the stock market — “buys” you peace of mind.
It buys you choice.
It buys you freedom and flexibility.
It buys you the ability to not be at any particular person’s whim.
And isn’t that why a lot of us start businesses in the first place?
It’s why I did, after all.
If you liked this blog post, subscribe to my email list below!