[OBO DIGEST] How and where to invest in your business in 2023

Finding opportunities, focusing on what matters, and a look at the global investing landscape of the upcoming year

Online Business Owner • February 01, 2023

2023 has already marked a few major shifts in global markets, and our aim here is to provide you with the information and strategies you need to make big moves in your business this year.

What better way to kick things off than with your very own 2023 business game plan?

Timing is everything for entrepreneurs. Today, we’re covering the macro shifts in the market you can take advantage of (right now) to build the online business you want.

One of the best places to invest, of course, is your own business—whether you’re just starting out, ready to scale, or you want to start investing outside of your business, we’re covering it all in this week’s edition.

Let’s dive in… although before we do, don’t forget to share The Digest with your biz besties, clients, and friends so they too can be in the know about what’s happening in online business!

Enjoy,

The OnlineBusinessOwner.com Team

Where Should You Invest In Your Business In 2023?

There are plenty of ways to invest, but few will yield the return (or the satisfaction) that comes from investing in your own business.

But while we hear this refrain all the time, what does it actually mean in practice?

The answer will vary for everyone…

But in the current economy, it should mainly come down to 1 question:

What’s most important to the growth of my business while carrying little risk?

This could mean key hires in marketing, sales, operations, or anywhere else where either your bandwidth is low or don’t have the skills to grow to the next level...

Putting more money behind paid ads to a proven front-end product to grow your customer base...

Building a new product uniquely suited to solving a problem that’s extremely relevant right now in a challenging economy...

Regardless of the particular avenue you choose, what matters is finding an opportunity and taking advantage of it with the resources you have available.

Then when you can’t effectively invest any more in your own business (or are happy where you’re at), that’s when it’s time to start thinking about investing elsewhere.

But that’s a topic for another day…

If you’re ready to invest in your business so you can scale the way you choose, here are a few steps to get you started:

Look for deficiencies in your current setup—where could you be earning more but aren’t; which avenues haven’t you explored?
Is there a hire you can make, a new software tool, or a program/course that can teach you how to fill the gap?
Determine the solution that’s most sustainable and/or carries the least risk and start to implement it.

Choose carefully, iterate quickly, and you’ll be well on your way to scaling a business you love—let alone one that reaches some major milestones throughout 2023.

Social Media News + Updates

👥 Meta rolls out a plan to allow users to connect heart rate monitors to its VR app
⏳ Social app usage rose to an all-time high in 2022 (yes, even more than 2020)
📺 YouTube will begin monetizing shorts in February
⏰ New Jersey, Ohio, and multiple other states ban TikTok from state-owned devices
🐦 Elon Musk stated he will step down as Twitter’s CEO upon finding a suitable replacement

News + Happenings

2023 Holds Uncertain Times For Investors

It’s an open secret that savvy investors see recessions as opportunities to buy low.

And many have been eyeing 2023 as an opportunity to do just that!

But many other investors are beginning to change their opinions on this…

Why?

The ever-looming question of inflation.

While the rate of inflation is finally decreasing, its effects are still rippling throughout the economy—and it’s still too soon to tell when and by how much the US federal government will drop interest rates.

It’s dropped its rate hikes significantly…

BUT they don’t show any sign of going down anytime soon.

The big question right now is whether we’ll begin to see an increase in buying power or if this is simply a plateau before the next set of hikes...

Which is the exact sort of uncertainty that makes investors throw up their hands.

The moral of the story is that it’s still too early to tell what 2023 has in store, and to sum up the mentality of investors right now:

Caution is the only available course of action.

Why this matters for online business

If you have some big financial decisions in the works that require you to anticipate a big shift in the coming months, it might be better to table those plans (for now).

Have a new business you’re itching to start? Awesome — go for it!

Just exercise extra caution before making any big investments.

Take a pause and wait to see how things play out, investing in things you have more direct influence over (like key hires and new offers).

To get a feel for the state of the investing landscape at the beginning of 2023, check out this awesome article from Financial Times!

How To Invest In Small Businesses

It turns out that your own business isn’t the only way to invest in small businesses—in fact, there may be opportunities literally around the corner from you.

Fundamentally, there are two ways to do this:

1. Equity investment… where you buy a stake in a company, giving capital to the business for a percentage of profits and (possibly) influence over its operations

2. Debt investment… which is essentially giving a private loan with the expectation that interest will be paid regardless of the profits/losses of the business

You can solicit a few businesses and maintain an active advisory role in their growth, but if you’re more ambitious, you can build a portfolio of interests and diversify your assets across a variety of small businesses.

Of course, putting capital into relatively unproven businesses is very risky unless you’re careful, so be sure to focus on areas where you already have experience or significant knowledge to maximize your chances for success!

Why this matters for online business

If you’re happy with where your business is currently at and want to diversify your risk, investing in other small businesses can be an excellent move.

After a certain point, investing in your own business requires major changes to its structure, and the amount of capital necessary to make an impact becomes substantially larger.

There’s no need to shoulder greater risk if it isn’t aligned with your vision for your business or your lifestyle as a whole.

By helping to grow other businesses, it’s possible to multiply your investments while helping to lift up brick and mortars near you or startups whose cause you believe in.

If you prefer taking a more active approach to investing, check out this article from Young and the Invested!

In Other News

💰 The supply of US corporate bonds has sharply increased, leading many investors to dive deeper into the investment-grade primary market.
🌱 The International Energy Agency predicts the world is moving into “a new age of clean technology manufacturing” that could be worth hundreds of billions a year by the end of the decade.
💻 Walmart aims to sell its internal technology to other retailers and has partnered with Salesforce to increase its reach.

With that, another digest comes to a close.

We hope you have found this edition both interesting and practically helpful.

There’s never a good or bad time to start a business—what matters is taking action based on where you are right now while looking toward the future and what you ultimately want to build.

The best investment you’ll ever make is in yourself and your business, though this will look very different depending on the season you’re in—both in business and in life.

How you answer will define what you ultimately build.

So grasp 2023 with both hands and take back control!

Until next time ❤️

[OBO DIGEST] How and where to invest in your business in 2023

Finding opportunities, focusing on what matters, and a look at the global investing landscape of the upcoming year

2023 has already marked a few major shifts in global markets, and our aim here is to provide you with the information and strategies you need to make big moves in your business this year.