Since launching your business, you’ve been investing in it bit by bit. You’ve invested in courses to hone your business skills and grow your business. You’ve upgraded to a premium WordPress theme to give your business a polished look. And you’re finally putting that awesome autoresponder your business needed to good use.

Now a huge new opportunity has presented itself that will take your business to the next level. Your favorite business coach finally has an opening. That mega-conference is offering a payment plan that would make it affordable. You don’t have much time to make a decision. What’s a girl to do? You’re terrified of making the wrong decision.

Take a deep breath. Find yourself a nice quiet space and consider these three questions.

CAN I AFFORD IT?

This is probably the first thing that came to mind, and rightly so! While I think sometimes you will need to stretch yourself sometimes in order to invest in your business, it should never come at the risk of foregoing household expenses in order to make it happen.

I received an email once urging people to sell their personal belongings or take out loans in order to invest in a particular course. Left me scratching my head.

If this is an opportunity that you really don’t want to pass you by, let’s make a plan. Consider creating a sale of some of your products, take on a freelance project, or even pre-sell a new product to your mailing list.

AM I READY?

Once you’ve got the money question answered, you’ll want to take some time to consider whether or not the timing is right for this opportunity.

If you’re just starting out, but this is geared towards those with more established businesses, you’ll only find yourself frustrated and overwhelmed.

Also, if you’re concentrating on your list building efforts, now may not be the time to take courses on SEO for your blog.

This has always been one of my biggest problems as I have often felt that I could do everything all at once.

Taking a step back and compartmentalizing what I do has helped to relieve a lot of the stress and anxiety related to my business. I’ve taken the less is more mantra to heart.

CAN I MAKE THE TIME?

Cash from your pocket is not the only way you’re going to pay for investments that grow your business. You’re also going to have to make any necessary time commitments in order to participate.

I’ve seen some great mastermind groups that would have been awesome to be included in, only to realize that the meeting time was at the same time as a child’s after school activity or some other family obligation.

If there will be a lot of work involved in the course that you want to take, will you have time to complete all of the assignments?

According to an article by Influencive.com, the completion rate for online courses can be as low as 15%. That’s really low!

I want you to finish, so make sure you are planning out your schedule ahead of time and carve out time for this new commitment. No buying courses that you’ll get to when you have time. Put it on the calendar and make it happen.

Take those big steps and invest in and grow your business. Go to that conference, sign up with that awesome mentor. Take that course you’ve been waiting for all year. Move forward in taking action for your business. Before you know it, you’ll be unstoppable.