With 2011 getting into full swing, business owners are turning their thoughts to what the next year will bring and what they need to do to be more successful. In the midst of these thoughts there is the inevitable consideration: What do I need to be investing in for my business?

Investing in business is essential for a business to grow and become successful. There are all kinds of investments you might consider making in order to have a more successful business:

• Invest in marketing in order to get a greater return on investment of prospects
• Invest in better copy and sales material in order to get a return on investment of more closed deals.
• Invest in your own education in order to get a return on investment of more proficiency or an extension of services.
• Invest in writing ebooks and other products to get a return on investment of more passive income products.
• Invest in time management software in order to get a return on investment of better and more profitable use of your time.

Preparing to invest in the business requires some considerations to help you determine whether the investment you’re thinking of is worth it. The considerations you need to think of in advance are:

• What is the required investment? It will be some combination of time, effort, and money and depending on your business, these will all be different. Perhaps you have lots of time and no money; your investment will look very different than someone who has lots of money and no time.
• What is the expected outcome? This is the “return on investment” (Commonly referred to as “ROI”). In other words, after you’ve put in a specific amount of time, a specific amount of effort, and a specific amount of money, what are you hoping to get out of it?
• What is your time horizon? Most businesses want a return that is fairly close on the time horizon. It wouldn’t make sense to invest heavily in your business with an expectation of a return 2 or 3 decades in the future. While you should invest for the long term, if you don’t ALSO invest for the near term then your business might not be around long enough to invest for the long term.
• What are the contingencies? Not everything works as planned and every good investment should be made with contingencies in mind: What happens if the outcome is worse than expected? What happens if the outcome is better than expected? How much more are you willing to spend to get an increase in return (i.e. if the outcome is worse and you try to fix it)?

This could be the year of opportunity for your business if you invest wisely. What will you do in 2011 to invest in your business?

photo credit: photosteve101