You may recall a few months ago when I explained my goal of taking control of my financial future for my businesses and my life. As the second post in my series about money, I want to share a little about how sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

About two years ago I started a small business with a friend. This friend of mine was going to be the laborer and I, the funder. After completing a really big project, we reconciled with the banks, the investors, and each other. What materialized was the realization that the company actually cost us more money then what we had made the previous year. While this was of no surprise to me, it was to my partner. He fully expected the first big project to pay all the bills and leave profit for us to share. Here’s the reality: That’s just not how most small businesses get started.

The small business of being a basketball official is no different. And each year you invest in your business (being a referee) and in your product (YOU) in hopes of having a positive return. But as you may already know, the return on your investment is not always immediate.

Very rarely do you attend a camp and get hired the first time. Rarely do you get hired in a league and in the first year get all of your camp spending money back in a single season. Most investments should be viewed through a long-term lens.   And in my experience, the more money I want to earn the more money (and time) I must invest; however, there comes a time when the spending needs to STOP. So what I encourage you to do at the end of this officiating camp season is really evaluate this one aspect of your business — evaluate your camp spending through a business lens.

Can you honestly evaluate your camp spending? Are you able to look at the camps you attend, both as a clinician and as a camper, to determine if they are truly advancing your officiating business? If not, do you have a mentor who can evaluate it for you? Remember when I wrote about mentors? Maybe you have a financial mentor that can look at your spending through a financial lens.

This August, I want you and/or your mentor to take the time to look at your money and determine if where you spent your money is truly moving your business forward.

Let me know if you make the decision to stop spending money in certain areas OR if you decide you need to spend more money in training. Because remember – it does take money to make money. It just shouldn’t take all your money every year.