Sunday, October 18, 2009

Expenses vs. Investments


“I can’t afford that!” is what most individuals & organizations say on a daily basis. Cutting expenses is a top priority for everyone these days. Reducing headcount (that means firing employees)… forcing time off (that means cutting pay)… eliminating training (that means stopping skills development)… are just a few of the first things to happen when times get tough.

Here’s the problem with those tactics: employees are not an expense… the work that they do is not an expense… developing skills necessary to succeed is not any expense… They are investments. You cannot cut your way to success. You must grow your way there.

At this point in my life, I cannot afford to buy a telephoto lens for my camera… I cannot afford to take my wife to a fancy restaurant… I cannot afford to take a vacation… However, I did just invest $350 in a training course that I believe will quickly make me a social media expert. It was an investment (in me) that will have immediate and long-term benefits. As my father once taught me, “People find ways to afford what they really want.”

What investments are you making for your personal & professional success?

1 comment:

Mirko said...

Hey Stephen, I have heard the last quote on this post before, when Frank Kern (The video marketing guru #1) said: If people state that they are interested in your product/service but they can´t afford to buy it, what they really are saying is that they don´t want it badly enough. Because if they did...and here comes your father´s quote, they would find a way to get it. Have a perfect weekend, yours Mirko