I always believe that the best route for every entrepreneur in his/her entrepreneurial journey is to build a sustainable business that withstands the test of time, and employ a proper exit strategy when the time comes, and if you are passionate about philanthropy, you can choose to get involved in non-profits. So, yes – I am a big believer that starting a business must have the end in mind; happy go lucky attitude just won’t work.
One of the most popular exit strategy is to sell your business (another one being implementing succession planning, hopefully get your business to the safe hands of your children or trusted group of people.) Now, selling a business can lead you to yet another journey – retire to the beach, pursuing your passion, starting another business, etc. But you should bear in mind that whichever route you choose, you need to plunge yourself into investing and wealth building endeavours – even way before you decide that it’s time to “quit.”
Why investing?
It’s simple – investing allows you secure your hard-earned cash you generate from your business, in such a way that it’s your money that work for you – leading to financially independent – hopefully, financially free – life. So, the “financial independence” concept itself is simple: You make money, then you secure the money – rinse and repeat.
Since the purpose of investing is to grow your money, you need to employ the right investment strategy that will allow you to easily manage your funds and control risks involved in investing (yes, no investment bears no risk!)
How to invest?
The worst route you can take in wealth building is doing it alone; well, you can’t, unless you have the financial IQ required – but even the financially literate entrepreneurs should have an investing team or partner with an investment firm who can help you grow your money.
There are reputable investment firms, such as Perpetual Ltd. (Perpetual.com.au,) that can help you invest your money via various investing plans. The best way for you is to visit their websites and start asking the right questions.
I do have some tips to get you into the “investing mode”:
1. Start NOW
We like to delay things in one way or another; particularly in wealth building, people just love to wait, arguing that there are other “needs” to be fulfilled; well, don’t. You need to start investing early in your entrepreneurial journey. You can take a manage fund route for $2,000 for a start – so, it’s most likely to be under the radar of many entrepreneurs, don’t you think? With that being said…
2. Give managed funds a try
I know you are busy – we are all; with that being said, you should consider taking the route of manage funds in your wealth building endeavour. You invest a certain amount of money in a fund, and you let the investment firm manage the fund for you. That’s all.
3. Opt for investment administration
If you want more control of your investment portfolio, but don’t want to do the administrative and regulation compliance nitty-gritty, you might want to consider outsourcing your investment administrative tasks. An investing firm like Perpetual Ltd. can administer your portfolio, as well as providing consolidated investment and tax reporting.
4. Diversify
Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket; you might want to explore multiple investing options: Retirement investing plans, stock investing, precious metal investing, real estate investing, etc.
Takeaway
So, what’s next? I suggest you to start visiting reputable sites that can inform you what you need to know about investing and wealth building. Then you might want to visit investment firm’s websites, and start browsing around and asking questions.
You should talk with the right financial adviser in order to get the best advice. The best route for this is asking for recommendations from your fellow entrepreneurs, family and friends.
Again, it’s better to start as early as you can in your investing and wealth building endeavour. “I’ll do it later” is not the right attitude – not only in wealth building, but also in anything in life. Delaying things will only lose you the opportunity to secure your financials – and retire early.
Enjoy your wealth building journey!
Ivan Widjaya
Following my investment strategy diligently