Is it worth it?

Which small investments can help-- or hurt-- your spiritual biz

I saw a post on Threads the other day where someone asked why restaurants are constantly closing but psychic shops seem to stay around forever.

“There’s no overhead,” someone commented.

To a large degree, that’s true. As a professional tarot reader, you truly can get by simply with a deck of cards. You don’t need to invest in expensive equipment, professional degrees or even your own brick-and-mortar space. Honestly, it’s probably one of the easiest careers to break into from an initial investment standpoint.

Having said that, though, there are certain things that can make your job as a tarot professional easier. It got me to wondering what types of things people have found helpful and what things were a complete waste. I asked about it in a networking group I belong to.

On the helpful list were things like:

• Google Workspace, to help keep things organized

• Calendly, for booking appointments

• A bookkeeper

• Tea (“When I had a brick and mortar, we offered free herbal tea along with some other free offerings that invited people to come inside and sit and visit any time we were open. We became the hangout spot and everyone who hung out also become customers.”)

• Relationship building (“I have developed a supportive network of other women healers who have my back.”)

I’ll add:

• Business cards. Even in this digital/AI age, people still look at business cards. You can tack them on bulletin boards and include them in letters, gift baskets, etc.

• Canva. To me, it’s so worth the monthly $15 or so to have access to all sorts of graphic-building tools.

• Email platform. I send emails through my web host. Once you get above a certain number of email addresses, it will cost a fee. I pay around $30 a month, but the return on investment makes it so worthwhile.

• Professional photos. It’s so nice to have a catalog of photos to pick from whenever you make a post or a flyer. Good quality, professional shots lend an air of expertise to your business.

• My website and a decent laptop. I couldn’t run a business without these.

And then there are the things that were a waste. These included:

• Pricey business coaching

• Hiring the wrong PR firm

• Google ads

• Selling retail items in addition to readings

I’ll add:

• Some courses and coaching that proved unnecessary.

• I’m on the fence about registering a trademark. It feels useless now, but may prove to be valuable in the future.

In the entrepreneurial world, they say you need to spend money to make money. Tarot reading is one of the few businesses where you can really get by without a huge financial investment, but of course there are things that can increase visibility and attract clients.

What would you add to these lists? I’d love to hear your comments.