As a finance and business blogger, one of the most common questions I get is how people can earn more money. To be more specific, they keep asking about how they can earn more money from a business.
Even in my coaching practice, most of the coaching I do revolves around how the client can earn more money, not how to manage money better.
The reason is quite simple. Once you’ve learned how to properly manage whatever money you have coming in, the next step is to earn more money. At this stage, earning more is what will really help move the needle in your finance life.
So if you’re a business owner who is determined to earn more money right now, here are a few things you can try to help make it happen.
Surround yourself with people who get money.
I’m convinced that a big part of the reason I’ve been able to earn more money from my business as time goes on is because I’ve made it a point to surround myself with people who understand money better than I do.
Whether it’s my accountant, colleagues, or the CFO of my coworking space who also happens to be a friend, I’m constantly around people who like talking about money.
More importantly, I’m surrounded by people who don’t get in their feelings about money. This has helped me tremendously in making better decisions and taking calculated risks because they’ve taught me how to come from a rational place instead of my emotions.
I’m also not going to lie here. My finance and business podcast is basically a way for me to pick really smart people’s brains for free. Believe me when I tell you I find every way possible to have money conversations with brilliant people.
Create a support system.
In every financial blog post or financial book I’ve ever read, they always mention how it’s important for people who want to earn more money to surround themselves with a supportive system.
The truth is when we’re trying to change our financial reality, we need to be around people who will help us, not bring us down. Sometimes that looks like a change of scene.
This isn’t to say that the people you are around now are malicious. It’s just that environment plays a big role in our ability to earn more money. If you come from an environment that isn’t supportive for whatever reason, then you need to upgrade.
For example, for a long time, I didn’t really have a support system in my local area as I tried to earn more money (other than my family who is awesome). When I couldn’t find what I was looking for locally, I went online and made some friends.
To this day, many of those friends I met online years ago make up my support system as I try to earn more money. They are the people I celebrate with. They are the people I bring my questions to. They are the people who’ve helped guide me in the last few years.
Now the good news is I’ve found people in my local area who can do the same in real life. It took me a while to find them, but they are finally there.
Ask for help.
Do you want to know what else has helped me earn more money? Getting over myself and asking for help.
Asking for help looks like delegating tasks to people who are far better equipped to handle it, paying for training that will help me make a return, asking questions, showing up to events to learn as much as I can, asking people to help me promote something and asking for feedback.
We need all of these things so that we can improve. The more we improve, the more money we can earn over time.
Start valuing your time.
The moment I started valuing my time more is the moment I was able to start earning more money. Here’s a recent example to give you an idea of what I mean.
I was recently approached by a major company to write content for their website. I turned down their initial offering because it was far too low for my time. They came back with a second offer and I turned that down too for the same reason.
By the time they came around with a third offer, they’d tripled their budget and reduced the amount of work I’d have to do.
This is just one example of how valuing your time can literally lead to more money. The onus is on you as a business owner to value your time enough to earn more money.
Other ways you can start valuing your time more are saying no to things that don’t serve you and starting to charge more money. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but you’ll soon see how this kind of assertion leads to a happy bank account.
Just ask.
Another thing you can do if you’d like to start earning more money is to simply ask for it. This ties into valuing your time more, but it merits its own section.
No one is going to give you more money unless you ask for it. In fact, no one is going to give you money period unless you start asking for it.
If they say no, then this is the part whether you either decide to negotiate or walk away because you find that it’s not worth your time as a business owner.
There are a few ways in which I do this in my business. The first is that I increase my writing and coaching fees every year. The second is that I come up with new ideas based on what my audience needs.
For example, I now only offer coaching and consulting on retainer so that I have more money coming in each month. I also charge a pretty penny for it because my time and expertise are valuable.
It’s important to note that I didn’t start off here. I started just like everyone else – doing stuff for free and undercharging. But, as time has gone on and as my experience grows, I’ve made it a point to create packages and charge accordingly.
Final Thoughts
The good news about being a business owner is that if you want to earn more money, you can. While it may take some grit and perhaps facing some of your fears, it’s worth every penny.
