The Safest Investment

I am not a financial planner and I know very little about your investment portfolio. Nevertheless, I know the safest place to invest right now: your business. Before I discuss your business as the safest investment, let me clarify what I mean by “investment.”

Most assume that investment means strictly money. This is a myopic view of investing. Any good financial planner will tell you that money is only part of the equation. Time and energy are also critical elements to solid investing. To ensure an investment is worthwhile, the investor must spend much time and energy researching the decision. Only after time and energy are spent can the investor spend the money. So let’s be clear that an investment requires three things: time, energy and money.

With this understanding, let’s tackle why investing in your business is the safest investment you can make. In a word: control. When you invest in your business, you are in the driver’s seat. Few other investments offer the control that your business offers. Buy a home and get pulled up and down by home prices and valuations. Invest in the market and strap yourself to the DJIA roller coaster. A business, on the other hand, puts you in control.

Control allows you to allocate more time, energy and money when needed. Spend more time, energy and money on a property and you might increase the value, but it’s tough to control what your neighbor does. Spend more time, energy and money with your stock portfolio and you could boost the return, but it’s tough to know when the next multinational is going to go under. But spend more time, energy and money on your business and you can usually generate more business.

Is investing in your business foolproof? Absolutely not. You must invest your time, energy and money wisely. Just because it is the safest investment, doesn’t make it guaranteed. But as many business owners are finding out in times like these, a little extra investment can go a long way and probably much longer than other investments. Certainly safer.