2022 was a year of growth in many ways. It was my first year in business as a full-time entrepreneur, and it was one of the first times I ever fully trusted in my business investments, knowing they’d come back to me in return, adding value to my business.
Deciding what investments to make in your business can be tricky. How do you know you’ll make your money back? What if the course you invest in doesn’t really teach you anything? And the thing is… there’s always risk involved. Every investment I made in my business this year came with countless hours of creating pros and cons lists, debating whether or not it would be worth it, and to help out my fellow creatives a bit – I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite investments this year.
Upgrading and Purchasing New Equipment
Working from home sure has it’s benefits, but it comes with a price! Literally. Not just the annoying sacrifice I’ve made of opting to replace a dining room table with a desk and workspace in our small apartment’s open-concept kitchen-living room. So let’s dive in!
- Branch Daily Chair – one of my favorite investments of the year in all honesty. It was a NEED for the long hours at my desk and my back pain.
- A New Macbook Pro – A MUCH needed investment after my 2015 laptop from college started dying on me. I opted for a slightly smaller, 14″ laptop and LOVE how portable and lightweight it is!
- iPhone 14 Pro – My old iPhone just wasn’t keeping up anymore and I needed something with a better-quality camera. Gotta keep up with social media content and trends somehow!
Marketing Investments I made for My Design Business
It’s hard to sell services without marketing! I started experimenting with a few different marketing tactics this year to grow my business, and ultimately invested in the below items.
- Flodesk – for email marketing (I’ve since stopped my newsletter, but still love the tool!)
- Tailwind – for Pinterest scheduling
- Showit – to make custom, *gorgeous* websites
- SEO + Social Media Research
- and a VIP Copywriting Session to get out of my own head!
Investing in my Education
If you know anything about me, you know I’m a course junkie. This year I invested in quite a few different workshops, summits, and courses to help me feel more aligned with my positioning and to improve my client experience. My two favorites are mentioned below:
- Dream Bigger & Thrive Workshop by Highlo Designs
- The Squarespace Design Framework by Foxtrot Branding
Tools
Who doesn’t love tools that help you streamline your processes? Here are some of my favorites that I started using this year.
- TinyPNG
- Notion Dashboard Templates
- Notion Account Upgrade
- Brand Photography for early 2023 (also applies to marketing!)
- Honeybook
And that’s a wrap! Here’s to more growth and more business investments in 2023! If you’re a business owner and have a favorite investment you’ve made in your business this year, let me know what it is in the comments!
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Business Investments I made in 2022 as a Design Studio Owner
