How do you evaluate business expenses to take thoughtful calculated risks? Everything that’s unpredictable is a risk, afterall. And spending money before you make money is a risk. If there are things you’ve never done before, it can be hard to decide when to say yes, when to say no, and when it’s just no, not right now.  While we’re on this topic of investing, realize we’re not just talking about money. Time and energy are the other two things that you want to consider. How you spend your energy is due to where you place your attention.  Business Expenses Related to Health & Fitness Coaching Are Inevitable They aren’t all as easy to spot as a credit card bill or check, unfortunately.  If you’re putting attention on things that don’t really serve you, like:  Conversations with people you can’t control  Weight that you don’t want  Regret or anger you aren’t letting go of Or, more related to business, a project that you create but haven’t tested whether anyone wants to buy it…  That gets very expensive even if you haven’t spent money on it.  For instance, you’ve got a phone so you shoot videos that you use to create a program using unlisted YouTube videos. It doesn’t cost you anything because the phone, the YouTube platform and the ability to send an email are all free. Have you considered how much time it takes to create video, edit video, polish and brand it, and upload it?  If you know how much your time is worth (Between $100 and $500 an hour) then those things become something you don’t want to do unless you’ve tested and evaluated.  Let’s start with a series of 5 questions you can use to evaluate your business expenses. [Step 1] Then I’ll take you through how to set up tasks within projects. (Those sometimes reveal expenses you hadn’t already planned on). [Step 2] 5 Questions that Evaluate Business Expenses:  Will it make you money?  Will it cost you money? How soon will it make you money? How soon will it cost you money? Is there anything you need to stop or start doing to see it through?  Now that you’ve answered those questions, you may have already decided to keep going or to scrap the project.  Next…  What Tasks Will Help You Evaluate Good Business Investments? These will not only help you evaluate good vs poor business decisions, but they’ll get this project planned out!  What are some of the tasks you need to do? How much will each cost?  How long will each take?  Who will be responsible for it?  What are deadlines related to this project?  If you can complete this evaluation, you’ll save yourself a lot of time… and a lot of money… and keep yourself organized. [Step 3] A project that you evaluate as “not right now” can still be one you return to and do later. But now you’ve got it, documented in draft form, ready to modify or run with.  Resources:  Health & Fitness Coaches Business Scorecard: https://www.flippingfifty.com/scorecard  Marketing to Women Copywriting Course: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/copywriting-course  Other Episodes You May Like:  Your Fitness Business Annual Plan Step-by-Step: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/annual-plan/ Business Planning for Health & Fitness Coaches: https://www.fitnessmarketingmastery.com/business-planning/