Are You Investing Enough In Your Business?

No matter what you do, you have some investment in business.

Are you investing smartly?

I wrote this post after having someone literally hang up on me as I mentioned that there would be a financial investment in starting a business.

I didn't even get to the numbers before the line went dead. What kind of mindset does a person have with no plans to invest in their own business at all? In fact, the numbers I would have told her are almost ridiculously low and even refundable, but just the mention of money turned her off. This is someone who asked for information about from home because she could no longer do her former work due to a back operation that work had caused. She had risked her time and health and lost. She will lose more because she has not learned be informed before making her decision. Any financial investment or even risk would be small compared to what she already risked and lost.

Even if you are working a traditional job, you are invested in it and you have risk.

You invest your time. Your pay is the reward for the investment of your time. You also have a risk with that investment. Your risks could actually be just as much as a stockholder of the company you work for. After all, if the company fails, you lose your income. A stockholder loses money only if he invests in stock that is overpriced or if the company fails. Your investment of time is also at risk of the whim of your boss firing you, or you becoming unable to fulfil your job duties. Maybe, this make the risk of a traditional job holder even greater than that of a stockholder.

The investment in an online business or a home business can be very low, yet many don't want to invest.

Starting a website or blog can cost as little as a domain and hosting for a year. That would an investment of well under $150. You may need to invest in some software or training. That may mean an investment of money or an investment of time. After that, much of your investment may be time. Again, you will be investing time in the business. The financial investment is low but the time investment can be high. The risk is dependent on your ability to succeed. Risking $500 or even $1000 total to start an online business is not a large investment. It is a small percentage of what a traditional brick and mortar business would cost. You would most likely pay $1000 for a month's rent just as a start.

Yet, I see so many who are willing to risk the time investment but completely unwilling to risk any monetary investment even a small one.

In the long run, I see this as a setup for losing much of the investment in time. A domain name is cheap. Often less than $10 a year from GoDaddy or Namecheap (I use Namecheap now for most domain names). Yet, so many start a blog without a domain. I fail to see why this is a step so many skip. Meanwhile, domainers are out there just investing in domain names alone for their potential value in a few years.

I find that many people think that there is money to be made with no financial investment.

There is. It is called a job. I already talked about your risk a little bit. Your job comes with perks like a boss and workers you cannot stand, following the same rat race every day, and the knowledge that job security doesn't exist like it did for your grandfather.

So many people refuse to make any financial investment in themselves.

They seem to be afraid they will get scammed or ripped off. It is true there are many scams. There are many ideas for making money that require you to invest money in them that do not work. I think a lot of the eBay businesses and online store products are a bad way to invest your money in an online business. Why? Simple. They want you to sell the same piece of junk that 10,000 other people are selling and it's junk no one really uses anyway. So, yes, there are bad ways to invest your money to build a business.

The point is to make a wise, informed decision on what to invest in and how much of an investment is needed.

Buying a McDonald's franchise can be a wise investment, but it is a significant financial investment. Few of us have the spare million dollars that would take. Not to mention, you are also going to have a significant time investment in that McDonald's. There are other businesses that have a very low financial investment and can make you just as much money.

I am not saying you should not be skeptical.

You should be informed before you invest. You should make a wise decision. Just do not let the fact that it may cost a little bit and have a tiny financial risk be the reason.

Sometimes, that financial investment is the motivation to use the time investment wisely.