Invest In More Than Your Own Business

There's a common misconception that building your own startup requires every ounce of your time, money and energy in order to seal its success. And yes, it needs an invested part of you that's smart, productive, and driven but your startup shouldn't require you to bow down to it 24/7. There should also be time reserved for you to scope other opportunities worthy of your investment to diversify your portfolio and increase your probability of success.

Piling all of your money and time into one company, however, gives you a risky 50/50 chance, it either succeeds (and could eventually fail) or it fails, and then you are left with nothing because you focused all of your resources in one place. For different areas of investment you may want to consider, there are a few suggestions below.

Property

If it's a passive investment that piques your interest, you might be interested in areas such as property. You could start by looking at investment property loans available online and search for a property within your budget. And then, if you find a house you feel could make a return, you can then hire an estate agent to manage finding and housing new tenants for your home. If however, you would prefer a more hands-on approach, you may even search for a fixer-upper and use this as a way to diversify your skill set, fix up your new home and sell it on (ideally) for a profit.

Commodities

Another opportunity that works well for business owners is finding a trustworthy trader to manage their investment in the market of commodities. Useful, valuable products such as copper and coffee are and have always been as far as we know, be popular products. If this is something you think you would be interested in and would like to invest without having too much involvement in the process, dabbling in commodities may be for you. However, you should bear in mind that this type of investment has the best chance of a return if left alone for 5 years or more. And so the money you put aside for any commodities should be cash that you do not urgently need.

You

Relatively cheesy, but entirely necessary, you are the force that propels your business ideas and other investments into action.  Without you, there is no entrepreneurship and so spending time creating a work/life balance is vital as an ongoing commitment. This means broadening your knowledge and experience and taking care of your health and wellbeing is critical. As entrepreneurs, we commonly push ourselves too far leading to burning out – add the link, which in turn achieves nothing. Working smartly, steadily and productively,  and investing time in you is essential to helping you become the best business person you can be.

Investing in more than just your startup business is about hedging your bets to give you the best chance of a triumphant return. Spending all of your energy and finances in one company is, in fact, extremely risky and could limit your financial and educational growth.