When you start a business, it’s easy to have no idea where to invest your SBA loan. Often, we are so focused on just getting the business off the ground that you don’t think about how to use the loan to grow your business.
But many further down the line look back at earlier days in their business and wish they’d known then what they know now. In this article, we’ll explore four ways you can invest your small business loan to grow your business. We’ll also give you some tips on how to get started.
Use Your Loan to Invest in Marketing
This is an area that many small businesses put off until they have more money. But the truth is that you can start getting a return on your marketing investment as soon as you start. The trick here is to choose a marketing method that will produce results.
Good places to start are social media marketing and SEO. These are great options because they usually don’t require a significant initial investment. And they can produce big results. If you want to be extra sure that you’re investing in something that will produce a return, try running some Facebook ads to test out different marketing ideas. You may need to use some of your loan payment to hire staff to help run your marketing efforts. This is a great way to put your money to work; experts will often be able to bring your business more success than you could by yourself.
Use Your Loan to Invest in Technology
This might not seem like an obvious place to invest your small business loan, but it can really pay off. Technology is constantly changing, and you’ll want to ensure you stay on top of those changes. For example, cloud hosting and artificial intelligence that can help your operations are getting cheaper and more powerful daily. If you don’t keep up with the latest trends, you could be missing out on a lot of benefits.
You can use your loan to start making the necessary investments in technology. This can include investing in new hardware, and software, and—again!—hiring staff to help manage your technology. Technology can be an excellent investment because it usually pays for itself over time. The great thing about technology is its multi-use ability; tech can grow your business in many different ways.
Use Your Loan to Invest in Research and Development
Investing in research and development is another great way to put your small business loan to work. Competition is growing; your business needs to stay one step ahead of the curve. This means you need to keep innovating and coming up with new products. Importantly, you must ensure they are as high-quality as your first products.
Research and development can enlighten you about gaps in the market or potential areas for new products. By bringing in new ideas, you can rejuvenate your business, excite repeat customers, and bring in new ones.
Use Your Loan to Invest in Property or Equipment
Finally, you can use your loan to invest in property or equipment. You can use this loan to buy things like new buildings or machinery. You can also use this loan to purchase assets like copyrights or trademarks. When you buy assets, you are investing in something likely to increase in value over time. You may even be able to use the assets as collateral for your loan.
Equipment is essentially an investment in your future. You can set up the scaffolding to produce more stock or your current stock more efficiently, saving money on costs. In addition, the property will open up more space for you; this is a great option if you are experiencing a lot of fast growth. These investments may appear terrifyingly expensive, but in the long run, they will be so much better for your business.
Use Your Loan in the Way That Makes Most Sense
These are just a few ways we’ve put together that you can invest your small business loan. The most important thing to remember when you are investing your small business loan is to be patient. You don’t want to rush into things. Instead, you want to ensure that whatever you invest your loan will pay off in the long run.
The key to growing your business is to make sure you are putting your money to good use. What works for one small business won’t work for another. So keep a cool head, do your research, and get to work!
