[0:00] Black Friday is on its way and it is not the problem. I actually really like Black Friday. It provides me with so many opportunities to get some great discounts. But the thing I want you to be mindful of this Black Friday is are you buying something because the discount made you, or is it because you actually need this in your business? Your inbox is gonna get super full. It is going to be flooded with so many software, subscriptions,
[0:30] courses, equipment, services, everything under the sun promising their lowest prices of the year. And now some of these can be really useful, and some things might be that you're already considering. But a lower price doesn't automatically mean something is right for your business. So in this episode, I'm gonna give you five questions to ask your business before you fly into buy something for Black Friday. And by the end of it, you're gonna have a simple way to decide whether you buy it now,
[1:00] plan for it, or later. Leave it. So welcome back to the Erin Davis Show. I am Erin Davis. I help women make sense of money to feel calm, feel in control. And let's just get into it because this is such a hot topic at the moment. The discount itself isn't actually the decision. Sales aren't bad, right? We are all in business. The outcome that we want is to generate income. And so the question really needs to be
[1:31] before you buy something, does this sale or does this purchase actually support a decision I've made in my business? That is the real question we need to ask ourselves because if we are just caught up with the discount, if we're just caught up with um what we're looking at, what does that need to be, then you know we're actually doing ourselves a disservice because we're making
[2:01] a decision for our business which is not Based on that reasonable logic. We're actually just stepping into it with all of the hype and the emotion and not actually looking at the decision from that logical position, does my business actually need it? So that is the question that I want you to start with. What is the job of this purchase? Am I uh will this software
[2:32] replace two software that I already have? Will this course help me to get my foundations right, implement a project that I want, is this equipment something that I have been needing because what I have is not reliable? And so I want you to start asking yourself some really specific questions about what the thing is that you are looking to purchase, and don't get all caught up in the hype of the 50% off or the 70% off, or that fear of missing
[3:02] out. Now, look, I get that sometimes it is best to have a A sale there because we need a deadline, right? Black Friday has a deadline, and if we don't have a deadline, we can stay in this procrastination stage where we're not implementing, we're not doing it, we're not making a decision, we're going back and forth all the time. Now I don't want you to stay in that position, but I also want you to make some business decisions that
[3:32] are not just always focused around money. I want you to have a very clear picture of what the thing is and what it will achieve and what it will do, and when you have that, then absolutely take advantage of the discounted price because what's what's the point of um being in business if you can't maximize your money? Taking advantage of discounts is absolutely maximizing your money. So that is the first question. What is this thing actually going to do
[4:02] in my business? Make sure that it helps you to achieve something. The second question I want you to ask yourself is it replacing something or just adding another cost? And Black Friday can look you know really affordable on its own, and if you have just this one cost that you need to implement or you need to purchase, um, but hidden in the background are ongoing costs or ongoing subscriptions.
[4:32] You need to actually ask yourself, is my business prepared to pay for this for the next 12 months? Is that something the business can afford? Stop making these rash quick decisions based on the right here, right now. Your business needs to be able to sustain it, needs to be able to manage it, needs to be able to carry it for the next 12 months. If what you are purchasing has an ongoing commitment and cost
[5:02] obligation. So that's something you also need to be aware of. The next part is what is the full cost after this promotion, right? Are there renewal prices? Are there annual subscription fees? Do you need to upgrade? Do you lose things? What time do you need to implement? Are there cancellation terms? Saving $100 today doesn't automatically make sense if that purchase creates very real ongoing
[5:33] costs for your business for years. And this is what we need to be really mindful of and consider whether this purchase actually fits into your budget and your goals after the initial sale. So once we have that, we can then start to make some decisions. You know, is this purchase actually beneficial for my business, or am I caught up in the hype of Black Friday? Another question I want you to ask yourself is
[6:04] which part of my business money or what funds are going to actually pay for this. Just because there's money in your bank doesn't mean that that money is available for you to spend. Now this comes back to something that is really important that we talk about in the Business Money Foundations course is when you have money set aside and it is for a specific purpose, that means that money is spent on that purpose.
[6:35] It doesn't mean just because there's money sitting in your bank account that you have it available to spend on whatever. So you need to plan for things, you need to look at what is coming, what money has been allocated. You don't want to take money out of your tax account to pay for something that suddenly looks super appealing through Black Friday. Because you don't want to miss out on the discount, which is then going to leave you short, paying your tax, which is then going to cause stress and money overwhelm later on. So we want
[7:05] to be really smart about it and start to plan what does our business actually need? What money have we got allocated? What is the purpose of this purchase? And the money that I am saving in my business, what purpose is that for? Like if an opportunity comes up, absolutely you want to be able to say yes to it, but you don't want to cause yourself financial stress later on because it is not
[7:36] in alignment or in the allowance for what you have already decided. So we want to be able to be spontaneous. We want to be able to make quick decisions, but you need to have an account that is set aside to allow that to happen to facilitate it. If you are just taking money out of your everyday account or your tax account in order to take advantage of these sales. You're going to leave yourself short somewhere else, which is going to cause you money stress.
[8:06] And so I want to keep coming back to being really smart about these choices, being smart about what Black Friday can offer for your business, and how do you want to feel afterwards. You don't want to be in a financial hangover that next week after Black Friday thinking, far out, how am I going to pay for this, or how am I going to manage all of these other payments coming out of my account because I've just spent all of this money that I had previously allocated. Can you see what
[8:36] I'm talking about? This is really such an important part. This is where we don't get ourselves caught up in the hype and wrapped up in all of those emotions. We're actually starting to make some really logical decisions because we need to make sure that we have room between now and the end of January when things traditionally get quiet, when businesses start to slow down, people go on holidays. You might even want to have a holiday. You don't want to take money
[9:07] out of your buffer account or your savings account in order to have this quick win that you weren't planning for that is now going to leave you short and have this money stress and money hangover. So you need to know what's coming in between now and January. What does your business need to actually have in the bank to cover all of those costs? What does it look like if I have time off? So many different questions that we
[9:37] need to start asking ourselves, and we need to start asking ourselves better questions rather than just getting caught up in the hype. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for a Black Friday sale. I am actually going to run a Black Friday sale myself. It is going to be my Business Money Foundations course. And I don't want you to jump into that course because it has got a crazy discount because it will have a crazy discount. I want you to Jump into that course because you know that
[10:07] Business Money Foundations is what you need for your business. I want you to decide to do that because you know that when you set up your foundations, it is going to be a game changer for your business. And so I want to share this with as many women as I can. And how can I do that? How can I bring those people into my world that possibly may not have been able to afford to come into it? I want to share this with them. I also want for my business to
[10:37] build a cash buffer. I want to be able to have time off at Christmas. So I am looking at it from my business perspective. Well, what can I do to bring some cash into my business? But you as a consumer and me as a consumer, make the decision that you want to purchase something in Black Friday because it has a specific purpose. It is there for a reason. Buy it now, it has a clear job. You understand all of the costs, you understand what the money is available.
[11:07] Absolutely jump into it, do it, make it happen. Plan it for later. You know, will this purchase be useful after the sales? Maybe the timing isn't quite right now. You don't want to put yourself into that financial stress because you think you're going to miss out. Because remember, that is just a tactic to get you to buy now. Again, we may need that push to actually make the purchase, make the decision. Maybe we're a fence
[11:37] sitter and we can't make a decision. And so the only way we can make decisions is that we need a deadline. And if that's you, then go for it. But make sure you know what is coming before and after, so that you're making these logical decisions and you're not just acting out of emotion all the time. The other part is leave it. You know, if it is something that duplicates what you already have, duplicates the systems, the software, the courses, don't just get
[12:08] caught up in buying another course just for the sake of it. Will you actually do it? Are you going to show up? Are you going to commit to yourself? If you're not, then that's a waste of money. It doesn't matter how cheap it is or how much of a discount it is, if you're not going to show up and do the work, it's money wasted. So start to ask yourself some better questions. How are you going to show up for yourself? Particularly around that course space. I see so many coaches buy course after course after course, they are bleeding money dry, and then
[12:38] they are wondering why their business can't move forward, why there's no cash in the bank. They are serial course buyers. They don't do the course, they don't implement the thing that they are learning. So what is the point in buying it in the first place? I know there's FOMO, there's shiny object syndrome, we think we're going to miss out. It's, you know, we're going to miss out on this great deal, but I'd question Isn't actually a great deal if you don't do the work. If you do the work and you get the outcomes and
[13:08] you grow and you move and your business moves forward, then absolutely it's worth it. But if you're not actually going to do the work, how many courses have you got sitting in your inbox, or how many courses have you got access to that you actually haven't done, or you've half-arsed it, you've halfway through it and you've sort of implemented, but you then didn't do it. So that is not a good use of your money. That is not a good way to do it. So I want to wrap up with those five things. Uh let's just
[13:38] come back to them. Uh What the discount actually isn't the decision. The decision needs to be more broader questions, more deeper questions. What will this purchase actually do? Is it replacing something or just adding another cost? And what's the full cost after the promotion ends? And which part of my business is actually going to pay for it. So I want you to start thinking about those things. As I said, I'm running a Black Friday sale.
[14:08] It is for my Business Money Foundations course. If you want that, let me know, send me a message. I am doing a free challenge, which happens on the 23rd of November. It is a four day challenge. You can register. I will put the link in the show notes. It is erindavis.com.au forward slash challenge. But this is all about creating Business Money Foundations for you. And we talk about knowing how much your business needs to carry, what are your costs, which
[14:38] bank accounts to use, all of these foundations so that questions like Black Friday you can make from a very logical decision. Data over drama, you can actually make a decision. So if you want to jump into my Business Money Foundations course, let me know and I will see you there.