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Home >> Stock Forums >> Business Investment

Business Investment

Heather said: "A business investment is always something to consider when your looking to increase your ROI. What type of business would you invest in? Retail? Development? Real Estate? Personal?"

Rickster said: "It doesn't matter what type of business it is, if the right kind of people are involved. I will tell you a little story. I met an independently wealthy business investor on a plane. He had invested a few thousand dollars in a couple of friends to help them start an ice cream store. He had one third of their initial debt. His friends did well, and now he is worth a fortune and doing as he pleases (traveling and helping people). His friend's names are Ben and Jerry. He was/is a Presbetarian minister. His edge? He has a excellent feel for people."

AlfredSokol said: "For small businesses I agree with Rickster. Its more important to trust the idea or the people than the actual business model."

Mackie said: "I have to agree. A few years ago - 5 - I invested in a real estate / estate agency start up in the UK. I had worked with the guy starting the company and considered him to be a friend. The business plan was not perfect, but it wasn't bad and should have worked... But literally 2 days after making my investment into the firm, the 'partner' withdrew half - for himself and wife. He then proceeded to steal from the company, the other partner and customers! It took months to sort out and the business went under costing us too much. It took me 2 years to recover about one third of my losses through the courts. So I would say that almost any firm can become a potential investment if it has competent, honest and hard working management."

darsh999 said: "Ya dats true but i think we should more trust on the idea than the people in the small businesses .:)"

MakingMoney said: "how do you go about finding these small businesses that need funding?"

sjerar said: "[QUOTE=MakingMoney;60501]how do you go about finding these small businesses that need funding?[/QUOTE] They are everywhere around you."

MakingMoney said: "For these investments, is there a guarantee that you will get your money back?"

KenMasters said: "Closeouts and liquidations can yield pretty high returns if you can find a business that has connections to really good/cheap suppliers."

hollywood said: "[QUOTE=Rickster;51569]It doesn't matter what type of business it is, if the right kind of people are involved. I will tell you a little story. I met an independently wealthy business investor on a plane. He had invested a few thousand dollars in a couple of friends to help them start an ice cream store. He had one third of their initial debt. His friends did well, and now he is worth a fortune and doing as he pleases (traveling and helping people). His friend's names are Ben and Jerry. He was/is a Presbetarian minister. His edge? He has a excellent feel for people.[/QUOTE] Nice! Good story with good point."

Tim446 said: "Hi my first post :) I was motivated to post reading about the Ben and Jerry story. I had in the past done some research on their success story. In this case I think it was a combination of a good idea who's time had come and the fact the two partners really got along well. They enjoyed what they did. The unlikely idea of re-inventing ice cream was timely. Before Ben and Jerry, you ate your ice cream out of a 1 litre tub and it came in plain chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. The industry was prime for an explosion of different flavours and creative packaging alternatives. It was an overlooked industry and nobody saw the extreme potential. Ben and Jerry recognized, that ice cream was more than just a dairy treat. It was the ultimate luxury reward for the poor man. It was a psychological craving/addiction for many. Developing more luxurious self rewards meant they easily began to corner the ice cream market."

lions4ever said: "If we have to bet in a new venture we should always seriously consider the management team. Of course the business concept is important but if people are not really committed it rarely works. For some reason Warren Buffett only invests on companies with serious, hard workers managers. He only moves to next step (company strategy, business potential, etc) after he feels comfortable with the management team. Intelectual capital is always the key issue. :th_dblthumb2:"

Aligator said: "[QUOTE=lions4ever;66741]If we have to bet in a new venture we should always seriously consider the management team. Of course the business concept is important but if people are not really committed it rarely works. For some reason Warren Buffett only invests on companies with serious, hard workers managers. He only moves to next step (company strategy, business potential, etc) after he feels comfortable with the management team. Intelectual capital is always the key issue. :th_dblthumb2:[/QUOTE] I don't know all that much about Buffett........just that one song, I guess:roll:.... But seriously, this is why I keep saying to Noobs, "Don't try to do research". How on earth is the average guy going to judge management of a company at all!? They're all going to tell you how committed to excellence they are, they're all going to be stock holders, and the financial information is going to be full of things that they all say is true. Buffett, on the other hand has the assets, time, and expertise to make a personal visit to these companies and form an opinion. And so do mutual fund managers. But you and I can only rely on whatever is available publicly. So we end up with Worldcom and Enron."

StockMan69 said: "Wasted away in Margaritaville. I liked that one."

electronicsseller said: "i would prefer to investing real estate ,even though the price is down now ,still we can benefit a lot from it for the people want to have their own houses but not just rent .in other words ,there is a bright future in the real estate.:whacky011:"

lions4ever said: "[QUOTE=Aligator;66978]I don't know all that much about Buffett........just that one song, I guess:roll:.... But seriously, this is why I keep saying to Noobs, "Don't try to do research". How on earth is the average guy going to judge management of a company at all!? They're all going to tell you how committed to excellence they are, they're all going to be stock holders, and the financial information is going to be full of things that they all say is true. Buffett, on the other hand has the assets, time, and expertise to make a personal visit to these companies and form an opinion. And so do mutual fund managers. But you and I can only rely on whatever is available publicly. So we end up with Worldcom and Enron.[/QUOTE] Of course I agree with you, Aligator... the average investor does not have the tools and/or resources to properly evaluate management teams, as you said only the public records and news. However, I was referring to small ventures... to the fact that we must always get some type of confort and try to know as best as possible the present managers of the businesses we are supposed to invest in, before any action... means before commit our capital. And I'm saying this by experience as I already lost a small fortune trusting the wrong managers. Before any action it is a must to know them... to have a drink and some lunches with them and try to gest as much info and understanding as possible. Evaluating honesty and commitment, without failures, is not a guarantee, but it is much easier if we know a bit more about those managers. We should be very carefull with those who try to push us to invest immediately. "Time can be of the essence" as they sometimes say but our money... the result of years of work and efforts... must be preserved! They have to wait until we know them as much as possible. And even with family and friends we have to know them on the business itself. See you later, Aligator."

pranith said: "Well if I'm thinking about the business investiment then i prefer to invest my money in retail. Though retail looks small but it is necessary for each and every one."

lions4ever said: "[QUOTE=Heather;51544]A business investment is always something to consider when your looking to increase your ROI. What type of business would you invest in? Retail? Development? Real Estate? Personal?[/QUOTE] Investing in soft commodities (as coffee, sugar, cocoa, wheat, corn and soybeans for example) is now one of the best solutions. The world's supply is withering and the demand for these commodities is booming in the emerging markets. Reasons for the increasing demand are the tight trade restrictions and the fact that most crops are being used for biofuel (energy) rather than for food. It's a great solution for investors mainly when the stock market, real estate market, US$, etc., are having big declines since the mid of last year. It is also much easier to invest in soft commodities today than it was before as several exchange traded funds (ETF) have been launched and allow the individual investors to get straight access to these commodities. :th_dblthumb2:"

Priya Gokhle said: "Just take care of choosing bussiness partner or look for Stock market trading or real estate investing. -Priya"