Читать книгу What Business Should I Start? - Rhonda Abrams - Страница 46

Investor: As an investor, you put money into other people’s ventures—whether their companies, real estate, the stock market, even race horses—in return for a percentage of the profits, if any. If the venture does very well, you may make a great deal of money. If it flops, you could lose everything. Obviously, this has a great deal of risk; much more risk than some other options(such as lending). The flipside is that there is potentially much greater reward.

The extent of risk depends, of course, on what you choose to invest in. Purchasing real estate in a growing community is likely going to be much less riskier than investing in a friend’s new restaurant—unless you and your friend know a lot about restaurants and not much about real estate. Remember, this is supposed to be investing, not gambling, so you have to do your homework before sinking money into a venture.

Lender: Another way to use money is to lend it, rather than invest it. You provide money to others in return for a guaranteed percentage of the amount you lend. Lending can be less risky than investing. Your risk is limited to how well you screen your borrowers and whether you get sufficient collateral to protect yourself in case they default.

The downside is that your return may not be as great. As long as the other person pays you back, you know exactly how much money you will make. If you lend someone money to start a new business, you will make the same return whether their business is a huge success or a flop. Your potential rewards are limited, but so is your risk.

Keep in mind that many money-lending activities are regulated. You can’t just start lending money to people for second mortgages, or open a pawn shop. Investigate the rules in your state before you start writing up loan documents.

Owner: A time-tested way of making money is by owning something. As an owner, you buy something that you believe will increase in value when you finally sell it. You may also buy something that brings you immediate income.

One approach is to buy things that you buy and hold over a long period of time, expecting them to grow in value (e.g., works of art, antiques, real estate). If you’re lucky enough to have bought Hawaiian beach property 20 years ago, you’ve probably seen the value of your investment increase a great deal. If during these past 20 years, you’ve been renting out that property to tourists, you may have also had income.

Another approach is to buy things that are under-priced, or from sources not generally available, and re-sell them relatively quickly for a profit (e.g., automobiles you buy at auction, collectibles, imported goods, etc.).

Finally, you can purchase things that bring you income now, such as rental properties, vending machines, laundromats, or stock dividends.

Value-added owner: Another business option for Investor/Owners is to buy something, do something to increase its value, then sell it. The value-added improvements could include fixing it, updating it, remodeling it, adding to it, or other ways to add value.

For instance, you might purchase a run-down house in a good neighborhood, remodel it—either doing the work yourself or hiring others—then sell the house for more money than what you’d invested in it. Likewise, you could take distressed cars and repair them, or restore old furniture.

Being a value-added owner may bring greater financial rewards than other investments, especially if you know both how to find a good purchase, and then how to improve it in a valuable way. It can also be satisfying for people who like remodeling, restoring, or working on projects.