Business Education and Coaching: How Much to Invest and How to Turn Around a “Bad Investment”

0:0010 years ago, I made the decision to build my personal brand that was elevated, yet approachable, and reflected who I was, not just what I did. I created my website with ShowIt because it's true drag and drop freedom so you can easily build and update your site. Plus, their real human support team, game changer. Want to try it for yourself? Head to jasminestar.com forward slash show it for a 14-day free trial and first month free when you subscribe. What I see a lot of are people will say, okay, I'm going to do this coaching program. I'm going to do this course. I'm going to join this mastermind.

0:30And when they realize it's not what it was that they expected, and 90 % of the time it will not be what you expect, they're like, oh, I just made the wrong decision. I just don't know if it's worth my time. Baby, what do you need to do to make it worth your time? I have worked too dang hard for every single penny for me not to say, oh, it's happening to me. I'm gonna say it's happening for me. How do I make this a win? How do I make this the right room? Welcome to the Jasmine Star Show where we talk about life business mindset. And today we're talking about following up, following up with your feedback.

0:58Okay, so a little bit ago, I released a podcast called The Five Mindset Shifts for Business. These are the five mindset shifts that had a radical impact on my life and in my business. And in one of those mindset shifts, it was mindset shift number five. And like, I'm gonna link it in the show notes so you can go back and listen to it because we got really great feedback on that. It'll be worth your time. But point number five was explaining how to get into new rooms, right? Like I always said, I'm a get in the room kind of girl. I released that podcast and then I got a message from a listener and she sent me a voice note that I thought, I wonder if I can share it.

1:33So I'm gonna do that now with her permission. And then the last thing is the question on the$50 ,000 investment for four months for Gary V's program. And you mentioned earlier in the episode of, I think, earning$4 million in your business in 2017. So can you talk me through what is the challenge of that? Because$50 ,000 feels like not a lot of money when you're earning multi-million dollars. And I see a lot of people at my level making these really big investments when they're nowhere near your level of earning. So can you share a little bit about that thought? Oh, can I? All right. All right.

2:09All right. All right. So first things first, I want to bring you up to speed. Please go listen to that other episode. It will make so much more sense in the context of this. However, I want to dive in. I had mentioned in that podcast episode that I had made around$4 million in 2018. And then she's talking about how the business has been growing and there's different revenue streams. And then she says, well, you said on that podcast that you made a$50 ,000 investment with Gary Vaynerchuk's Vive executive group coaching program. And I said in that podcast that it felt like a big decision. And she's just like, it doesn't really feel like $50 ,000 in the terms of what your business does.

2:45And I want to go through and really extrapolate what was her question. She is saying, well, it doesn't seem like a lot of money for you, but how does that question apply to anybody else? The question I am seeing, which is under the question. So the underlying question would be, how much should an entrepreneur invest or reinvest in their business? Now, I want to be very clear. I am not talking about reinvesting through equipment or tools necessary for the business. I'm really focused on reinvestment for education and personal development. But before I get there, I want to say one thing. She had said that, quote unquote, others were spending what I was spending on my education and they were making nowhere near what my business was making.

3:29So I'm going to say this as nicely and softly and lovingly as I can. What somebody else does in their business is none of your business. And what you do in your business is none of their business. So I really want you to not focus and I don't want you to compare what other people are doing. Because you don't know these people who might be equally spending$50 ,000 in a coaching program, maybe they have a full-time job. And this other side hustle thing is a thing that's funding their personal development and their education. You don't know if they have a partner who is subsidizing their business and their lifestyle.

4:07You don't know if they're going massively in debt. What we see on the outside is only what people share. But that is like 0.0001 % of reality. The only story that you are in control of and actually should be caring about is yours. Oh yes, we are starting there. I want you to focus on you. Now, in another podcast that I'm also going to be linking into the show notes, we talked about reinvesting and building wealth with a gentleman by the name of Brandon Kidd. He came on and he was talking to us about reinvestments. Like how do we get the money we're making in our business and turning that into wealth?

4:41That was a really popular podcast episode this year. I'm going to link it. I definitely think you should go back and listen to it. So to the best of my recollection, when we were talking about reinvestment, in fact, you want to know what I'm going to do? I actually texted him and I want you to hear from his own words, what he said about reinvesting and the budgeting it takes for that. Probably, it really depends on your income level, but I think that, you know, the more aggressive that you can be in terms of reinvestment, especially back into yourself, you're going to see likely the highest return of investment on that.

5:17So I would aim for 10 % of your gross income, right? So you make 200K, invest 20K in yourself and masterminds or whatever business development, you're very, very likely going to see more than that in returns and it'll pay in perpetuity. And I think that as you continue to grow and scale into multi-six figure into seven figure, it'll be harder to spend 10 % of your income. And I also don't think that's as needed. So I think that percentage-wise, it would drop, maybe 5%, 3%, depending on how much income you're making. If you're making a million bucks, 10%, 100 grand, that's harder to spend, not impossible.

5:58But will you see as much income coming back? I think you would be able to speak into that. I never spent 100 grand in a year on self-development. So let's do a brief recap. He said, on average, generally, 10 % of your gross revenue. So the example that he gave was, let's just say you made$200 ,000 in gross revenue. That, you know, investing$20 ,000, you would be able to make at least$20 ,000 and some change on the back of that. That's a general rule of thumb. So you're probably going to get more than the$20 ,000 you invested in that coaching, that course, that mastermind. So another thing is he had said, as you grow in scale, it's going to be harder to spend 10 % and see a higher return.

6:49And he had said that maybe on average, the minute you start doing like seven, eight figures, you're going to be spending around three to 5 % reinvesting in education or uploading the programs. And he had said that he's never spent$100 ,000 in a year on self-development or education. And I'm here to tell you, I have. and I haven't regretted a single penny of it. Not because that money wasn't hard for me to invest, but because there's always been a return on investment. I'm gonna get to that and share some really personal insights in a second. Now, he had said, if you have gross revenue of a million dollars, spending 100 ,000 might be difficult to return in cash.

7:28I disagree with that, having been on the side of investing$100 ,000 on personal development and education and coaching. However, even if I didn't, even if I spent$100 ,000 and didn't make back$100 ,000 in that investment, there are things that aren't measurable. It's not just an investment on money. It's relationships, it's connections, it is opportunities, it's experiences. And that goes into how I measure it as well. So I just wanna be very clear before I deep dive into the reasons why I do this. Okay, so I wanna break down a couple of things and I'm writing down on my notes because literally I got this message this morning and during the lunch break, I sat down and I framed my thoughts to the best of my ability.

8:07Now, I'm at a place in my business where it doesn't really make sense to invest a full 10 % back in personal development and education. I think I'm closer to about that 3 % to 5%, but I'm really unafraid. I'm unafraid to spend up to 10 % if I felt that there was a positive return on investment. Now, the VaynerMedia experience, So Gary Vaynerchuk, what I mentioned in that episode is that Gary Vaynerchuk has VaynerMedia and one of the arms of VaynerMedia is a program called Vive. It is an executive group coaching program. Now this group coaching program, it's not so much a mastermind. It is four months of executive group coaching.

8:47And that four months is$50 ,000. Now, if I were to do the year-long program with them, because they're going to be launching in cohorts, if I were to do a year-long program with them, the total investment for the year would be$150 ,000. So I just want to make sure that we're comparing apples to apples. And when she had asked, like$50 ,000 doesn't seem like a lot in comparison to what you're making. I should also have noted that in addition to deciding if I was going to join Vive, I am a part of a different executive group coaching program that I'm investing year over year. In addition to that, there's travel and additional events related to those expenses.

9:27I'm also a part of two other masterminds. In addition to paying and investing in that education and investing in other speakers to come speak to us, there is the travel and time component as well. I also do weekly executive group coaching with a coach that is at the top of the market charging for her skills. It is a massive monthly investment. And then after having made those decisions that that's how I was gonna invest in the business, the Vive opportunity came roughly around April. role. I had already made the decisions of how I was going to reinvest. And so making that decision, it seemed like a much bigger decision because, wow, I had already established a budget for what I was going to.

10:04But remember what I said, I was unafraid to go up to the 10%. And we had that. Now, one thing I also want to measure and let people know that when I am taking time to reinvest in personal development, it's also an investment of time. It's not, I don't look at, oh, it's$50 ,000 or$500 ,000. I'm looking at it as how much time is it going to require? So for the Vive program, it's two full days in New York City with Gary. We're going to be ringing in the bell of the New York Stock Exchange. We are going to be going to one of his restaurants. And the next day, we're going to be workshopping and brainstorming around our businesses.

10:40And then at the end of the four months, we are going to be going on a three-day trip. This is a lot of time. And then every Friday we're meeting. This is a weekly commitment. This is so much time. And so when you're investing in personal development, it's not just the cost you're paying. It's how much time are you going to be taking away from other projects that could be generating revenue? So I want to make sure that this is also how we're assessing it. Now, I want to go back and I want to touch on something. I am talking about how this decision of investing came on the back of a lot of time and energy and investment.

11:15Cool. But there was a follow-up message that I want to read right about now. Full disclosure, I'm scratching and clawing my way to double my nine to five salary in my business. And there are coaches asking for 15 to$25 ,000 for six months who are not Gary Vee or James Wedmore. Ha ha. I want to go back and I want to be very careful with this mindset. If there is a coach who is charging$15 ,000 or$25 ,000 for six months, six weeks, or six days, they can. And if people are paying them for that, they should. Just because you don't want to invest$15 ,000 or$25 ,000, what it really means is you don't find value in them.

12:07You don't find value, excuse me, not in them, in their offer. But that doesn't mean that somebody else doesn't. In fact, yeah,$50 ,000, that's a lot of money. But I'm going to an executive group coaching program that's highly generalized. Like the group of people, there's a group of 10 people a part of this program. And we all come from very different walks of life. The way that they had said who is eligible. So they handpicked who they extended an invite to. This is what they're calling their maiden voyage. They didn't put this out publicly. They looked at people who've already previously invested in elements of VaynerMedia.

12:40Back in 2017, I went to a program through VaynerMedia called the 4Ds. Now, I ended up being a testimonial. I ended up being a follow-up, a success story, and they profiled my business. And so I've stayed in contact with VaynerMedia for a few years. And so when they launched this new program, they reached out to people who have already gone through programs and gotten results. And they said, hey, we're trying this new thing and we're curating this group of people. And I was like, number one, I always want to be the guinea pig. I always think that when somebody makes the offer for the first time, they're going to, they're going to go, they're wiling out.

13:08They're going to say, we're going to surprise and delight. We're going to go over the moon. We're going to see what actually works and what actually resonates. So I was like, I want to be a part of that first group. However, it's highly generalized. Like you have to be a founder or you have to be a CMO. You have to be a CMO of a fortune 500 company or a founder of a company that's bigger than X million dollars a year. I had qualified. I was invited. I said yes. But would I pay$100 ,000 for a four-week program for a highly specialized business that was doing exactly what I wanted to do, even if it came from a person with less of a name or brand recognition?

13:47Hell yes. There are qualities that people can invest in a business that are so industry-specific. Perhaps they have built successfully the type of business that you're trying to build. So their industry insights and knowledge are highly valuable. The more an offer is tailored to a specific niche, the more they can charge for it. And so I just want us to be very careful that when we look at different offers and then we assess, how can that person charge that? Well, that person can charge that because that's what people are paying them. As you consider what you're doing to invest in your business, please take in the time and consideration along the following.

14:26Is it around or just a little bit less than 10 % of gross revenue? Number two, could I find a way to create a return on investment based on that? As your business exponentially grows, and I hope it does, don't necessarily feel the pressure to spend all of the 10%. Number four, ask yourself if you would get a return on investment, not just in relation to dollars, but in opportunities, in resources, in connections, in experiences. On Instagram, a couple of days ago, I wrote the following. So I didn't ask me anything. And this is where people will come on and they get to ask questions anonymously.

15:03And then I get to share my response. So I got a question and it said, what's the number one thing you did to get to your next level? I've been stuck at a level for a while. My response, I invest in education, period. I pay a price that scares me. I seek discomfort. I want to be the dumbest in the room. I want to be the poorest in the room. I want to be the most inexperienced in the room. If all of this is true, I am in the right room. I believe this with every fiber of my being. I want to look at an investment and be like, oh, four months, okay. Four weeks, for four days. am I going to get the result that I want from it?

15:44And so then I wrote that Instagram story and that was on a Monday. And on Tuesday, the episode, the five mindset shifts that grew my business, that dropped on a Tuesday. So I did the AMA on Monday. The following day I dropped this podcast. Oh, that's like a weird coincidence. Or is it? Because I got a text message from a friend who had listened to the podcast. And I thought it was really interesting because she came in and she was talking about how, and I'm going to read this. Jasmine, I'm listening to your podcast. I know I need to get into these rooms of which you speak. My challenge is finding a room that makes sense for me.

16:22My antenna are up thanks to you. I could have left it alone, but you know me, I'm up in everybody's business. Here's my response. I feel like we know each other well enough for me to say the following. Find a room, any room. Make it a personal goal to invest in a room before the end of June. Will it be the best room? Will it be the right room? Most likely not, but it's a muscle you build. Get it, build it, ASAP. And she said, you're so right. The end of June, I did join X organization and it's really big. I'm hoping this Goldilocks finds it just right on this try. And then I sent her a voice memo.

17:01I'm going to tell you what I told her. If you made the commitment to make an investment and you feel like it's not what you expected or you're not getting what you need, that's on you. You can go out and do something amazing right now. So you're in a big group. You could look at it and say, womp, womp, it's a big group. I'm not getting what I want. Or you can say, hey, I'm going to go into this group. I'm going to go in through the glossary, the index of who is in this group. I'm going to see other people who are doing similar things in a similar industry at a same size business. Then what I'm going to do is I'm going to make the invite and say, would you like to meet as a little side huddle?

17:33It is very common for me to go into groups and create a small pod of people who are running at a similar rate because we get to cross-reference ideas. We get to cross-reference industry insights. We get to ask what people are doing or what's working. So what happens is I encouraged her that even if you're not in the right room, make it the right room. How do you make it the right room? Well, you find alliances and ways to maximize the investment that you have already made. I have seen people, too many people, and I'm not saying now, this is a new note that says nothing to do with the text message that I responded to.

18:02But what I see a lot of are people will say, okay, I'm going to do this coaching program. I'm going to do this course. I'm going to join this mastermind. And when they realize it's not what it was that they expected, and 90 % of the time, it will not be what you expect. They're like, oh, I just made the wrong decision. I just don't know if it's worth my time. Baby, what do you need to do to make it worth your time? I have worked too dang hard for every single penny for me not to say, oh, it's happening to me. I'm going to say it's happening for me. How do I make this a win? How do I make this the right room?

18:27I want to encourage you wherever you are at, whatever you can spend, even if you're like, I can't believe they're spending that much. I can't believe they're not spending anything at all. Wherever you are at, make a decision for your business. And I say make a decision for your business, but I have to know that what was stopping me early on in my career of heavily investing was this idea that I somehow needed permission. Like I needed to make a certain amount of money in my business before I invested in myself or education. Because in the beginning, that hustle was real, right? Like I need to get gear.

18:59I need to get the things that I need for my business to make it successful. But what I realized was I was spending a lot of money trying to get things that would make me look or feel qualified when the thing that I actually really needed was business acumen. I didn't need more lenses. I didn't need more cameras. I wanted them. It would make me feel better. But what about actually running a business? I didn't want a really expensive hobby. I wanted to know, How do I make more doing less? And so I decided I'm going to pay for that, but I needed permission. I said, well, once I make this amount of money, then it'll be worth it.

19:29And I thought to myself, what a squandered amount of time. Even if I had made$10 ,000 a year, could I have not have spent$500 on a course, on a membership to give me the information that I needed? So your biggest takeaway here is do not wait for permission for somebody to give you something that only you can give yourself. Number two, I want to remind you that self-development and education, it shouldn't be that you are worth it or that you're not worth it. I want you to look at this decision and say, strategically, this will put my business at a better position. I don't need you to say, strategically, I'm going to be in a better position, although you will be.

20:10If what it takes for you to invest in yourself is, strategically, this will put my business in a better place, then it's time for you to make that decision. And lastly, as the daughter of an immigrant, as somebody who had to work desperately hard to put food on the table for his family, my dad has always placed a high value on education, specifically because he came to this country and he didn't know how to read, write, or speak English. And so there he was in his early 20s and he had to teach himself how to read. And at the time, he was teaching his kids how to read. So my dad has instilled from a very early age that education is something that nobody can take from you.

20:49Is that there will always be a positive ROI on something you learn. Because if they can take your business, they can take your identity, they can take any assets, they cannot take what is in your mind. So I have grown up with this deep desire to say, if I want change, I need to learn what I need to do to change. But furthermore, I need to learn who I need to become to get that change. We had a podcast interview with a gentleman by the name of Billy Jean. And he was talking about marketing strategies because that's what Billy Jean does. But he said something that has stuck with me for over a year.

21:31He said, if you want to change, you have to change your environment. You got to pick up and see the world and see yourself in new ways. And I thought to myself, hot dang, that is what I have done again and again. When I was stuck and when I was uncomfortable, what I did was I invested. It made me uncomfortable. I was the dumbest in the room. I was the poorest in the room and I was the most experienced. And you wanna know what I say? I wanna be the poorest person on every yacht and the dumbest person in every room. Here's why. They show me what's possible. People who are doing bigger, mightier and greater things than me challenge my limiting beliefs and challenge what I think and believe is possible.

22:11If they have done it, they will open the doors and ways for me to do it too. And I hope that when it comes time for you to invest in your business, you look at it simply, strategy, and simply without permission, and simply because they can never take it away from you. Thank you so much for listening to the Jasmine Star Show. It is an honor and it is a privilege. And thank you. When you send those DMs, I get to make content in response to you. How blessed am I? Thank you, friends. I appreciate you. Thank you for watching and listening to the Jasmine Star Show. Thank you.