Having extra money to spend on your business is a windfall you should never take for granted. Deciding where to spend your funds can spell future success or immediate disaster. Investments for business should help your brand grow and bring more productivity when chosen wisely.

We’ve looked at common business investments as well as some more unusual ones. Check out the breakdown of what benefits each brings to decide if it’s right for you. 

1. Digital Marketing

Source: https://www.marketingcharts.com/featured-230110

Current spending on internet marketing in 2023 is $222 billion, expected to reach $271 billion by 2023. Digital marketing is growing in popularity because you can reach a targeted audience and not waste your budget throwing too wide of a net. 

However, even with a targeted audience, you can still waste a lot on advertising if you don’t know how to engage users or sell them once they land on your website. Pay careful attention to the sales funnel and consistently tweak anything that isn’t working. 

2. Employee Perks

One of the best investments you can make in your business is retaining top employees. You’ll want to offer the pay increases and perks that help them feel loyal to your brand. Finding and training excellent workers is challenging. Keep them once you find them.

Some perks you might consider include: 

• Paying more on health insurance premiums
• Offering additional paid days off
• Adding benefits such as a nicer break room or free lunches on Fridays
• Create a daycare on the premises

Talk to your staff about the perks they’d most enjoy and do your best to implement them. 

3. New Technology

The tough times during and after COVID drove many brands to make changes to the way they conduct business. They invested in new processes and technology. In 2023, the way small businesses interact with technology has changed significantly. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming as commonplace as a fast food restaurant — and just as divisive with its positives and negatives.

How can you know if it’s the right time to spend funds on the latest technological advancements? Pay attention to your procedures. Are there any bottlenecks a program or machine might solve? Focus on what competitors are doing. You may need to invest in tech just to keep up. 

You also want to seek things that don’t need constant updates or where they are included so your costs after initial investment remain low. You need time for the money you spent to see a return. 

4. User-Friendly Website

One of the best investments for business you can make is implementing a user-friendly website. Either improve the site you have or create one for the first time. Consider it the first impression you make with your online presence and tweak things until the buyer’s journey is perfected for your pages.

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1289755/internet-access-by-device-worldwide

Statista reports around 95.3% of users access the internet via mobile phones at least part of the time. With so many using smaller screens, investing in a site that is responsive to smart phones can improve your conversion rates. 

5. Logistics

How quickly do your orders make it to your customers? In an age when Amazon delivers things in just one or two days, customers can expect such fast delivery that you can’t keep up as a smaller business. However, you can offer the quickest options available to counteract some of the immediacy expectations consumers are getting used to:

• Make a list of potential shipping partners and length of time from your business to the customer’s door.
• Compare pricing as you don’t want to choose something so expensive you can’t remain competitive.
• Pay attention to in-house processes. Can you get packages out the door more quickly?
• Invest in the software, training and relationships that improve your logistics.

You may find it makes the most sense to use more than one carrier to deliver items. Be open to creative solutions, software that helps you find inventory faster and notifications so packers can get orders out the door immediately.  

6. Employee Training

2022 saw a 20% voluntary employee turnover — a trend that seems to be continuing. A majority of workers say they’re open to leaving their current job and at least casually looking for something new. If you want to keep your best staff, you must look at what they need to make them feel valued.

Investing in their training is one way to show them you value their contributions and hope for a lasting relationship:

• Offer tuition reimbursement
• Pay for conference attendance
• Provide in-house training
• Buy books and resources to have on hand

There are many different ways to invest in employee training, including giving them time to read and study about a particular topic. It might seem like an investment without immediate payoff but the additional knowledge and abilities you’ll add to your staff make the cost worthwhile. 

7. Inventory Control

If you’ve ever run a sale and ran out of a popular product, you probably understand how crucial inventory management is for your small business’s success. Whether you invest in an AI-driven system that automatically orders items running short or you simply set up some pings to remind a warehouse manager to order, finding the right software can mean the difference between gaining or losing sales.

Some systems even look at past sales and accurately predict the types of new products most likely to find success with your customer base. Combine inventory management software with better processes and you can also improve your logistics by getting packages out on time. 

8. Customer Relationship Management

Source: https://www.marketingcharts.com/customer-centric/crm-228507

Adding a customer relationship management (CRM) system can improve customer loyalty and ensure you retain top clients. However, go into the process knowing it can take time to get things up and running and to learn the new system.

Marketing Charts looked at two popular CRM tools — Hubspot and Salesforce. They found the majority took about three months to learn the tool, with 52% of HubSpot users saying it took them three months and 42% of Salesforce users stating the same. 

When adding a CRM system, know it may take more of an investment in training and time than you initially think. You have to look at the long-term payoff of investing in this type of software and the benefits once people learn the processes well. 

Other Investments for Business

Your options for investing in your small business are endless. The best way to choose the right course is to identify your weaknesses as a brand. Once you understand what needs to be improved, it’s easier to seek tools and solutions to take your company to the next level.