87: The Real Cost of Not Starting

Let's talk about the thing nobody wants to say out loud: you're scared to invest in yourself. And I get it, it can be a little nerve-racking, especially when you have never done it before.

But what if I told you the real cost isn't the investment? It's staying exactly where you are.

In this episode, we're flipping the script and I'm breaking down:

• Why hesitation around investing in yourself is completely normal (especially for moms)
• The REAL cost of waiting: financially, emotionally, and in time
• What changes in your life when you finally bet on yourself

If you've been on the fence about starting your virtual assistant business, this episode is for you. Because the women who succeed aren't the ones with perfect circumstances, they're the ones who decided the cost of staying stuck was higher than the cost of starting.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:31

Let's talk about the thing that nobody wants to say out loud. You're scared to invest in yourself. And listen, I get it. Investing money in yourself and your dream can feel a little nerve-wracking at times, especially if you've never done it before. But today I want to flip the script and talk about the cost you're not seeing. The real cost isn't the investment, it's staying exactly where you are. Let's dive in. Okay, so I wanted to talk about this on the podcast because we had just had one of our free workshops last weekend. And I talked about this on the workshop. Um, it was something that just like I really felt pressing on my heart and something that I, you know, started talking about with the gals that were there live. And I just felt like there was someone else that needed to hear this too. And it's this idea that investing in yourself and your dream and your skills is scary. And that a lot of times that is the thing that's holding people back is the investment. It's actually paying to get started. And I get why this feels hard. Okay. You obviously can have these things come up, like these mental blocks that it's like, okay, what if it doesn't work? Like, what if I'm wasting money? What if I'm not ready? You might even have like the guilt of spending money on yourself when you have bills and kids and responsibilities, right? So, what I want you to know is that that hesitation is completely normal. It's something that I see often and it's something that I experience myself at times. Money mindset stuff is very real, especially for moms who have been conditioned to put everyone first, right? Like we are way more willing to spend money on our kids than we are to spend on ourselves. Like I think about the trope of, you know, buying clothes for ourselves often doesn't feel very fun, but like we'll go, you know, spend money on our kids' clothes, no problem. I know you've been there if you're a mom. Um, but it's so backwards because when we as moms invest in ourselves and invest in our growth and invest in like what is best for us, it actually serves everyone around us better. Um, and that's kind of the whole idea of, you know, this episode is looking at, okay, what is what is the ROI, not just financial, but just the ROI of us investing in ourselves in general. Um, it could be financial, but there's also an ROI that's emotional that has to do with time, right? But when there is an ROI, there's also a cost to not getting started at all. Okay. So I want to kind of talk about like what is an investment, right? Or what is kind of the difference between just spending money or investing money. Um, to me, an investment isn't just an expense, right? An expense is something that you pay for and you might get something in return, but there's not like a huge ROI, right? Like an expense could be like paying a bill or um getting takeout or you know, paying for childcare. Like that's an expense. It's a line item on um your, you know, budget. But an investment really has an ROI on the other side, a return of investment. Okay. It's something that returns something else to you. And you could argue, like, especially if you're really good at girl math, like I am, I can see the ROI of things all the time, right? Like I can see how, you know, investing in some part-time childcare, there is an ROI to that because it allows for me to make more money because I have some more focused work time. Um, I can see how, you know, there's an ROI to um spending money on like healthy groceries because it is going to allow for us to fuel our bodies in a way that is good and um can actually help us avoid, you know, health complications down the road. Same thing with like a gym membership, right? There's an ROI to that when you use it, right? Um, but really that's that's the difference between just spending money, like maybe you just it's one of those times where you go to Target and you're browsing the aisles with your Starbucks and you're just finding things to spend money on. I know so many women that are willing to do that, but then aren't willing to actually invest in themselves where there is something that returns to them, right? And there's so many examples of um investments that we don't question. Okay. The biggest example that I can think of is like college tuition. Okay. I have my undergrad, so I have my bachelor's and I also have a master's degree. And never once did I question if it would be worth it, right? The tens of thousands of dollars that I spent on college, never once did I think that it wouldn't be worth it on the other side. And I mean, that's years to see an ROI, right? Undergrad, let's say you go undergrad four years, and then maybe your master's degree program is another two years. That's six years before you really see an ROI on your investment. And unfortunately for me, my degrees that I got, the ROI on the other side, um, wasn't very high in terms of financial, you know, return. Um, as most of you know, teachers don't make a whole lot. And so, you know, it's six years to of investing and putting a lot of time and money into a college degree to come out on the other side making, you know, maybe$40,000,$50,000 a year, depending on where you're at. You know, you could be making more if you live in a higher income or higher um cost of living area, and you could be making less if you live somewhere that doesn't pay their teachers very well at all. And so it's like at the same time though, I never questioned that. I never questioned the investment that I was making in my college degree because it was important to me. Um, you know, I don't question, or a lot of other people don't question um professional certificates or licenses, right? Because it's something that might be able to help you get ahead in your career. Um, it's an investment opportunity for that, you know. So my question is, is why are there these things that we don't question these investments? We don't question, you know, what's on the other side of them, but we do question investing in a business that could replace your income, could give you more time freedom, and could honestly change your family's future forever. And, you know, we think it's too much, right? Or it's not, it's not worth it. It's not something that you want to invest in, even though it could be the very thing that helps you get to where you want to go, right? And honestly, here's what I think. I think that it's actually not about money at all. At the end of the day, I think oftentimes it's about belief. I think it's belief that it's possible for you to see success, at least the success that you want to see. I think that um it's belief that it's going to work out for you. I think it's belief in what is possible on the other side. You know, it's all the what ifs that keep us stuck. Like, what if this doesn't work out? What if I can't be successful? What if, you know, X, X, Y, and Z fill in the blank of whatever your what if is. That is where people get hung up on the investment because they don't want to waste money. They don't want to spend money and it not work out. But there's a real cost to not getting started. And like I mentioned earlier, there's more than one type of cost. There's financial cost, there's time cost, and I think there's emotional cost too. Um, I think back to, you know, when I was first looking at starting my business as a VA, I was actually pivoting away from a different business. And there was, it wasn't necessarily like I was investing anything because the whole reason that I ended up creating Beginner to Booked VA was because I didn't, I couldn't find a program or find the support that I needed and that I really connected with. Um, and so I didn't invest in a program in the beginning because there really wasn't anything like what we've created today available. Um, but there was a financial cost to pivoting because I was changing businesses. Um, I was leaving behind a business that was very lucrative and it was working and I was successful, but it wasn't something that I was aligned to anymore. And I just remember being afraid of that. I do remember like wondering if it was going to work out. Um, but I knew that the cost of staying where I was at was greater. And I think that that is what I want to come across in this episode is that the cost of not getting started outweighs the cost of getting started, you know, all the time, especially when it comes to starting as a virtual assistant. Um, with financial cost, you know, what you're costing is missing out on another, you know,$500 a month,$1,000 a month,$2,000,$3,000, you name it, dollars a month that you could be making as a VA, but not getting started, you're not seeing that income, obviously, because you haven't started. And it's like, okay, what if you could make an extra$2,000 a month as a VA, which you could do in as little as two to three hours a day, that's$24,000 a year. Think about that. If waiting another year, if waiting another year to start costs you that costs you$24,000, what's really the expensive choice, right? Getting started or not starting at all. Also, there's the time cost. You know, a lot of people that come through Beginner to Book VA specifically, they want more time, whether they want to, you know, go part-time at their jobs or they want to be able to quit their jobs and be at home with their kids, whatever that looks like. Um they are looking at it in terms of time. Like, I want to get time back because time is our most valuable currency. Time is something that we don't get back. We can't make more time. Like once the time is gone, like the time is gone, right? Um, and so the only way that we can make more time is by creating more time. And the only way we can create more time is by, you know, making our work support our life versus our life having to surround around work. Um, and for me, the time cost that I would have to pay if I was working full time as a teacher still, and only being able to see my kids, you know, a couple hours at night and then on the weekends, like that's just it, it's too high of a cost for me. And I know that not everyone can relate to that. And I know not everyone, you know, that's not their goal. But for me, I wanted to be able to have a flexible schedule. I wanted to be able to provide financially for my family, but also spend most of the time with my kids. I also remember as a teacher, just like constantly living for the weekend, like constantly waiting for Saturday to roll around, constantly waiting to get stuff done on the weekends or on breaks or whatever. And I just I didn't want to continue to live like that. That cost was too high. The cost was too high. I wanted to be able to take family vacations whenever we wanted. I didn't want to have to wait until summer vacation or spring break or whatever that might look like, right? There's a cost there. And then there's the emotional cost, right? Like the resentment that can build within you when you're not betting on yourself is real. It's real. I think oftentimes there's resentment that can build when it when you're looking at other people who are doing what you want to do and you're not going for it, right? Like you're seeing other people see success because they went for it and they bet on themselves and you're staying on the sidelines or you're in the same spot. And then there's also the emotional cost of all the what ifs, right? I always say that at the end of my life, I would rather have a lot more, like, oh well, that didn't work out the way that I panned, I, you know, I planned for it to, than have a lot of what ifs. A lot of what if I would have gone for it? What if I would have started sooner? What if I fill in the blank? I would much rather have those moments of like, it didn't work out the way that I wanted it to. And I trust me, I have plenty of those, plenty of those in the last eight years of entrepreneurship. Um, but I have I have far less what if I would have tried, or what if I would have started sooner. Um, I think about what if I would have started sooner with my VA business all the time because I wanted to start about a year before I actually started. And I just think back like, man, what if I would have started that whole year earlier? Right? Like, where could I have been? What's interesting is that when we do invest in ourselves, we often show up differently, right? I have invested a lot in my business in 2024 specifically. I invested a lot in um some growth opportunities to be able to help me refine skills and get some coaching and all that kind of stuff. And I show up differently now because I made those investments. Um, you also show up differently because you have skin in the game. You know, you're not downloading a bunch of free resources or all this free content and or like low-ticket content even and just like letting it collect dust in your inbox. When you invest something, you put skin in the game and you take it more seriously because it costs you something, right? You also commit instead of just dabble when you put money down for something. Like thinking, let's like think about a gym membership, for example. If you're paying like$15 a month for a gym, or even if you have like access to a free gym membership, how often do you use it? Some of you are probably really disciplined and you do use it often, but I've had moments where I have you know access to a gym and never used it ever. But when I'm paying$150 a month, you betcha I'm gonna go show up at those classes, right? I'm gonna commit instead of just like go once in a while because I'm I'm investing in it. I'm putting skin in the game. When I think about the women who invest in beginner to booked VA in particular, they are investing in not just knowledge, but also speed to help them get to where they want to go faster, right? So there's a ton of knowledge on the internet, YouTube, Google, all of those things, right? That's like one of the best things about our online space now is that you can find anything anywhere. But investing in a program that helps you step by step get to where you want to go is not only going to, you know, teach you exactly how to get to where you want to go, but it's gonna help you go there faster. Now, here's the thing: I can't guarantee that you'll make$10,000 your first month. And I won't, I won't do that. Um, I can't guarantee that it will be easy because it's something new, right? You're learning a new skill, you're learning something new, you're learning how to be a beginner again. But what I can tell you is that if you don't try, the outcome is guaranteed. You will stay exactly where you are. There is risk in investing. Of course there is. But there's certainty in not investing, on not getting started. And that certainty is that nothing changes. In a year from now, what will you regret more? Trying and learning or not trying at all. So if you've been on the fence about starting your business as a virtual assistant, and maybe you know that looks like investing in beginner to book VA to get you started, I want you to ask yourself, what is staying stuck actually costing me? Not just in dollars, but in time with your kids, in peace of mind, in the future that you want to build. The program is an investment, of course, but it's an investment in you and your skills and your income and your freedom and the ROI, not just financially, because you legit can make your investment back in a month or two with clients, is there and it's so worth it. Time and time again, I've seen how the women who succeed aren't the ones who have perfect circumstances. They're the ones who decide that the cost of staying stuck was higher than the cost of starting. I believe in you. I believe that you have what it takes. I believe that one year from now, you won't regret betting on yourself. But you might regret not starting at all. So don't let any more time pass you by. Okay. Just get started. And maybe it's not even starting your business as a VA, maybe it's something else entirely. What is the thing that you are not starting because you're afraid of the investment when really it's the not starting that's costing you so much? I'm rooting for you, and I'll see you in the next episode.