Why you should invest in yourself

Why you should invest in yourself

RETURN 

ON 

INVESTMENT

 

Too often we believe that it is not necessary to invest in ourselves, spend the money elsewhere and forget about our external appearance. There is a saying ‘do not judge a book by its cover’ but first impressions always count. 

Many people say does it really matter how we dress? Many get up in the morning, grab the nearest item and then go off to work. People don’t really judge us by our clothes, or do they?

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but people do judge you based on the clothes you wear. Whether you’re walking down the street, or sitting in a business meeting; people are constantly looking at what you’re wearing. The way you dress and style yourself is a direct extension of who you are.

There is a huge ROI (return on investment) in wearing stylish, well-fitting clothes…especially in the business world.

The early years

One of my clients didn’t really pay attention to what she wore whenever she went out to networking events. Of course, her clothes were clean and ironed, but slightly mismatched with no sense of style. She wasn’t interested in spending money on clothes or a decent haircut and colour. When I asked her why, her response was ‘I’ve got a good product and that’s what people are buying, not me.’

The problem she encountered, when she walked into meetings or went to a conference, was that people wouldn’t really give her the time of the day, until they got to know her. She just blended into the crowd. Once she was standing at the cloakroom and someone asked her to pass them their coat! Once she started to talk to people, they were willing to listen and, potentially, look at offering her future work. The issue was, she didn’t catch people’s attention immediately and, often, when she went up to join a group of people, it took them a while to warm to her and engage her in the conversation. People just don’t want to waste their time talking with someone who doesn’t look ‘businesslike’.

Over an 18-month period of going to many networking and business events, her business contacts had steadily grown but she wasn’t getting the big business opportunities, and even missed out on a couple of lucrative contracts. One day I bumped into her at an event and, as we got talking about my business, she explained that her business was struggling and that she needed more clients.

The caterpillar turns into a butterfly

The next day we met for a coffee and discussed investing in herself. Like many business owners, she believed that her product would sell itself and that her appearance wasn’t the problem. She was an entrepreneur, had been a stay-at-home  mum and felt that she didn’t have time to look after her children, run a business as well as ‘run around the shops and buy clothes’ and ‘get her hair cut and coloured’. Her priority was her family and the business – appearance wasn’t important.

A week later, after a couple of telephone conversations and a consultation, I put together a Bespoke Styling Package for her and we went shopping to start the makeover. She spent just over a thousand pounds, which included a great haircut and colour. And what a difference it made.

The turning point

With her new clothes and a decent haircut and colour, she looked ready for business. On the way to her first meeting after her makeover she got a few compliments and was asked where she got her cut. Never before had she experienced this type of attention. With her confidence soaring, she went to three events that week where she noticed people were more willing to talk to her, even approaching her first and also noticed that, during business meetings, people took her more seriously. People were eager to exchange business cards and even arranged meetings.

As the months went by, she stepped up her appearance as much as she could within her financial constraints. However, there was a huge ROI, but it was a much bigger difference than she had ever experienced. Business started to improve, potential clients became clients and within no time she went from struggling to get work to having more work than she ever expected. She even hired an intern to help with the administrative work.

By improving the way she dressed, she started to get noticed when she went to business functions, and business trebled as she got more contacts. When she went to present her business to potential businesses, she felt more confident. By dressing professionally her credibility went through the roof with other business owners.

Conclusion

Improving how you dress can help build your confidence and self-esteem naturally. It is a simple way to feel good and look fabulous. It is always important to dress to impress. Dressing to impress is dressing for success. You’ll get a confidence boost. If your budget doesn’t stretch to spend thousands of pounds on well-made clothing and accessories, you can still spend a few hundred pounds on something that looks just as good as a thousand-pound suit. No excuses are allowed!

For more information on the Personal Styling Concierge Services and see how I can help you improve your image www.clothes4realwomen.com