Quick! If you suddenly were gifted for $50K to spend on your business, what would you spend it on?

Marketing? A new sales rep? Office chairs? (You wouldn’t laugh if you saw our conference table chairs.) A TV ad? 

@rich-brooks May I have a (short) list? I need a couple of websites, CRM, social media monitoring and some social media ads. But really, right now, I need something that money can’t necessarily buy: TIME.

Great question. Can’t wait to see @deairby‘s and @joanmuschampfagnani‘s answers.

I’d take the wife of 39 years out to dinner, expense it as business, brainstorm and buy the chairs anyway as a starter.

@rich-brooks Intereting question, Rich. But I think a more interesting one is what you would do with $5,000 or even $500?

The challenge for small business is to do the most they can with limited resources. Answering that question with smaller amounts makes you think about what is really important.

Russell

Aside from upgrading all the computers – the rest would go to paying off the credit card debt (and of course a little R&D in the Bahamas) ;D

@rich-brooks  Most likely marketing to improve my FB, LI, blog &  website efforts or lack thereof. So I would spend it  on outsourcing those tasks to someone who could understand me, my message and getting out to the public.  Thanks for asking this question.

I would get the mobile app developed that I worked out in my brain already but didn’t have the resources (time and money) yet to get it converted into a real tool.

I would use it to start my own business! It would help me get my business licences, computer equipment, desk and office chair I would build my own website, do my own marketing and content creation, but the remainder would help me keep going while I get the business off the ground. Oh and I’d have to agree with @cherelleleong about the coffee maker permanently located on the desk!

I would pay off cc debt, upgrade my home office technology and buy a new to me car  

@rich-brooks

• High quality content
• Infographics
• Website re-design
• R&D
• Analytics software
• A pair of These haha
  
• I’d have to brainstorm a little more for other costs

Great thought-provoking question.

I would give my self a salary that is just enough, and then take the rest which would be at least 25,000 and do marketing offline through business groups, chambers and the like. Create awareness campaigns and hire a public relations expert on how to get our information to the B2B market.

Oh! I came up with another answer! I’d invest it into a money market, and collect interest off of it. It wouldn’t be a lot of interest, but I could then use it to create secured loans that I knew I would be able to pay off (thus allowing me not to touch principle) and skyrocket my companies credit rating. Then, I could leverage that higher credit rating into getting a very low interest business property loan, and use the $50,000 towards the down payment. This would be a further investment which could be grown and give the company an asset instead of a liability (property vs. debt).

But that isn’t as fun as going crazy and buying new laptops for everyone. And then playing networked games of Quake.

* Please note: due to my work in a financial institution, what I have posted above is not meant to reflect professional financial advice as I am not qualified to give financial advice. The above comment reflects my own personal opinion, and does not reflect the opinion of BCCU. Thank you for letting me edit this statement, and I apologize for any confusion! If you have financial instrument questions, always seek out a qualified financial adviser!

do you offer financial counseling? what a great answer! @jasonreilly

@jasonreilly

First, I’d upgrade my computer equipment and would get better photographic equipment. Second, I’d pay to be helped with my website to make it works perfectly. Third, invest on Marketing Research And if I still have money (for sure, I’d have), I’d use it to reach and make contact with more providers or artists from small towns and get more products from them). @rich-brooks It’s a good question, I used to start the questioners for Marketing Research with this kind of question, and it used to work really well. @joanmuschampfagnani I’m going to copy your idea, an also a Housekeeper that she could be the difference for a fast growing in my small business (I really miss her).

I would set up a second home in the other Georgia and live a laptop lifestyle for the next 10 years, running my business from there, where earning just $5,000 year would put me in the more affluent category no matter where I lived. That would pay for all living necessities and extras while I focused on product development and marketing online. I’d invest a consistent portion of my time helping create better systems for both children and adults to learn English, as well as helping local businesses join the world marketplace online. And I’d definitely be living in Batumi on the beach — what they used to call the Russian Riviera — with monthly fun trips to visit friends across the country, as well as exploring Turkey, Armenia, Azerbajian, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

I’m getting to the point where spending $5,000/month to live in America is seeming less and less appealing, especially when the world offers so much more in return for that $5,000 (as long as you can stay healthy, that is). When I was young, I traveled Western Europe, but now I’m finding I want to see the rest of the world before I go. 

With only about 12,000 days left to invest, I want to make sure I not only get the most bang out of life for my buck, but make each of those 12,000 days a truly memorable one. I love my country, but the world’s just so much bigger and accessible now. No time to waste on wasting money…

Robin

i would hire a fulltime   person to put our  furniture online in a  major  way…and to keep  up  and  take over  all our   internet  work…..or  open a new store in a new town…or   take a  big buying   trip with  a semi  and 2 big  guys…, going out east and to a lot of  shows.. ..

it  would  be hard  to pick  which one to do…….

Hands down a dedicated Business Coach! I have great access to an ActionCoach business coach here and he has been very supportive but I WOULD LOVE to be able to afford one-to-one sessions and also employ a contract Administrative/Tech position to ensure all of the plans that I could put in place with his resources were put to use asap.

Hands down a dedicated Business Coach! I have great access to an ActionCoach business coach here and he has been very supportive but I WOULD LOVE to be able to afford one-to-one sessions and also employ a contract Administrative/Tech position to ensure all of the plans that I could put in place with his resources were put to use asap.

@russellallert I really like your response!  Owning a small business is all about prioritizing and knowing you have a limited budget really makes you think how to get more “bang for your buck”!  That being said, I would probably spend money on social media (a better website, etc.).  I feel this could help generate more business resulting in a more profitable bottom line.

@boxcarmarketing  Yes…great answer, even though it would be after upgrades, marketing, more inventory…if there was any left…lol
 

@mssilvr or include a blog on your present website