Nowadays, people start small businesses and slowly (but surely) make it on top of its best and other people invest in stocks and in cryptocurrency to fluctuate the economy all over the world, especially in countries that have suffered severely because of the pandemic. But have you ever wondered where your money goes whenever you open a business or start investing and have considered whether you should be starting up your own business or start investing?
Well, don’t worry! We’ll give you a crash course about the difference between a business and investing (as well as the pros and cons of the two) and what we think you should start first! After all, you want to keep your dollar bills falling for you, right?
Business vs Investment: The Differences
Before we can give you the pros and cons of each one, we’ll give you a refresher about the difference between having a business and investing through online channels.
Opening up a business is when you become an entrepreneur and factor all of the things you need to put up for your startup (location, labor, supplies, taxes, etc.). You control where the money goes, manage your business hours, and you’ll have unlimited income. It has risks involved, but most of them are low to average due to competition and profits that are at stake when you have a business to run.
On the other hand, investing (especially in the stock market and in cryptocurrency), is when money controls you based on the performance of stocks. It serves as passive income, and you wouldn’t even lift a finger (except for shelling out money) when you see how your money is growing. It bases on the level of your risk appetite which are:
- Conservative
- Moderately Conservative
- Moderate
- Moderately Aggressive
- Aggressive
These investments can be in forms of:
- Mutual Funds
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Insurance
But both of them involve money because in opening a business, you need to have capital (especially if it’s a micro business using your own money) while for investing, you only need a portion of your hard earned money on the line in order for you to start investing in stocks.
Pros and Cons of Business and Investing
Now that we’ve got you covered in a bite – sized nugget refresher, we’re going to tell you the pros and cons of having a business and investing your money anywhere.
Pros and Cons of Business
Opening and running a business can be a reward with the right marketing strategies and some good pitches, here are some of the things you need to know if you’re considering opening a business (especially a startup company or a small business):
Pros:
Aside from having unlimited income, you can also control the quantity of products you want to sell and the price of the products or services that you offer for some profit. With low to average risks, it’s slower to lose money than when you earn money because when the demand is high, the profit is also high. Aside from those, you can open a micro mini business for as low as around P10,000 in the Philippines. When your business is booming, you can actually expand it (you can actually open up your own company or join a big corporation along with a string of businesses they handle)! P
lus, since entrepreneurs are on the rise especially during the pandemic season, you can either have a sole proprietor or a partnership for your business ownership, meaning you and your friends (or family) can actually own the business and be your own boss! How cool is that?
Cons:
Okay, so you think managing and running a business is easy? Well, it’s not. For one, you need to do some massive work before you actually open your business (meaning you lose money first before you earn money, especially if you’re planning on a new business). A business takes a lot of documentation of permits, contracts, and registration papers. More importantly, when your business opens, you actually won’t start earning as much initially because people will have first impressions on your business.
Next is competition because here’s the reality of it: Most people have your skills in order for them to start a business (especially when you’re opening a food business because that’s where people would have a wrestling match). The million dollar question for every person opening a business is:
What’s your unique selling point?
Meaning you have to come up with what stands out from all of the existing businesses that are out there in less than ten to fifteen minutes (kind of like an elevator pitch).
The third that you have to consider are the bills (utilities like electricity and water) as well as other taxes that you need to pay from DTI and BIR. This can affect your profit because if you have huge taxes to pay, chances are that the loss can be more than what you actually earn.
Lastly, you need people involved. We’re not talking about employees this time, but business partners, especially if you’re about to become a small business owner. Relating to the second point of competition, you should know who you should have as your investors because good investors ask the right questions (and bad ones are just window shopping, okay?)
Pros and Cons of Investing
Investing is open to everyone (whether you’re a student, a working professional, a small business owner, or a big shot CEO) with a few clicks and swipes, but here are some things you need to know when you invest anywhere in the web:
Pros:
You’re beating inflation. Investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, and many others in the stock market, there are higher returns when the inflation is good wherever you are. It’s also a good asset to add to your financial portfolio based on the performance of the stocks that are present in the stock market, putting a good word in the price fluctuations because who knows — the goods that you know and buy that are expensive now, can be made more affordable with a good inflation rate!
Another one is that there are fund managers and brokers who manage the stock market in various online platforms (meaning you can invest anywhere from GInvest, Coins.ph, Axie, etc.). So for example, if you’re buying stocks from JFC, there is a fund manager who can see the price fluctuations for you to know what’s going on in the market. A good fund manager can not only tell you when it’s a good time to invest and how much you should invest, but also when to pull out your money and sell your stocks.
For those investing in insurance, good financial advisors can tell you when it’s okay to pull out your money and help you plan your future (and even your retirement and death) because by then, you’ll have enough money to last for several years to go!
As mentioned earlier, there are various online investment platforms for every investment strategy that you’re gearing up for. If you want to play it safe first, we suggest that you should go for Axie or GInvest from GCash. However, if you’re willing to step up your game, then we can suggest that you should go for Coins.ph, GoTrade, and so much more on your app store! You can even go big and actually invest in the Philippine Stock Exchange where millions of brokers and fund managers can actually tell you which stocks you can invest in!
Another is that when stock prices are low (especially during crises), there are more people who buy stocks from these companies so that they’ll increase their investment stock portfolio based on the stocks that are bought (and sold after) online!
Finally, you can relax as it is a good source of passive income and the interest rates of investing are mostly higher than in most banks because the compound returns can actually be more rewarding, especially if you start investing earlier! You can also save time and stay ahead of the game with investing!
Cons:
Between having a business and investing in stocks, investment risk is always average to high. For one, your financial security is at risk since your money is the one controlling you based on the stock prices that are fluctuating in a few years and investing in stocks (and in bonds and in mutual funds) can be volatile because you can’t be too sure whether you’re really investing or not. Aside from having a risk for your assets, you need to also have knowledge in the basics of investing (whether you’re planning to do stocks, bonds, or mutual funds) because one wrong move is critical for your money as an investor.
On the other hand, there are many companies that have been affected by the pandemic and other crises, so chances are that the investments that you’ve made have lowered their stock prices causing investors to lose more money than when you’re starting a business.
If you’re planning to invest online, you have to make sure that your investment platform is credible and legit because many online investment platforms require risks, and if you put them in the wrong places, then you’re financially messed up.
The Money Game: Is a Business a Good Investment?
If you’re asking owners of small companies, it’s actually a threat because this can mean losing a lot of manpower and operations to run the business (especially if it’s sustainable for you). A lot of people, especially business owners, want to keep the business up and running as much as possible to keep customers ringing in for profit, especially if you’re starting a business from scratch (and possibly to change the image of the business, especially for business hinges).
But for investors, it’s an opportunity for them because they already have the knowledge about the market research this business has (plus minimal risk), and there’s a chance for a breakeven especially if it’s bought from big corporations because they would split the money (and a win – win situation) for some business owners!
Final Verdict: Business Or Investing?
For most people who are practical with earning money (and in changing the world), opening a business can be the most conventional option (especially if you want to be successful in life aside from working your usual nine to five job) because if you want to invest, you should focus on starting a business first. But if you want to have higher chances of success for the long run, you should invest. It’s how you strategize your own finances that matters in life because with all the knowledge the world can give you, it’s all up to you whether you can value your assets or gamble it all up just because not every risk is rewarding.