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There is a lot of potential for debate, when it comes to the issue of spending money on something for your business. While there are very few people who would debate that essential office supplies, computer hardware and office space are things which must be shelled out for, there are a lot of people who take the idea of frugality to a deep and personal level. And while these are generally people who will surrender their money when you pry it out of their cold, dead fingers, sometimes they raise a very valid point about knowing when to hold it and when to fold it. After all, one of the surest routes to destroying your business is to use it like your personal checking account, and spend on whatever you feel like at the moment. But at the same time, there are some very good reasons to spend your money.
One way you can figure out if this is a good idea is to ask yourself why you need whatever it is. If it is something which is going to help you retain your best employees (and no, you may not count “retaining” yourself in this instance), then it might very well be a high quality expenditure. Of course, you still want to make sure that you are getting a good deal on it, and that you are actually going to get the results you expect out of it. You can do this by asking the most appropriate people about whatever you are thinking about buying.
Of course, you can always just say no for now, and use the trick of asking yourself three times if you really need it, say every six months. In most cases, if you really believe that something is worthwhile to buy for a year and a half, its usefulness is probably not going to go away any time soon. The trick here is that you give yourself enough time to really think about what this new acquisition will do for your business, instead of just for your ego or your personal enjoyment of life.
