Lessons From my "Worst Investment Experience" - Don't be the Lazy Investor
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Most times, the best way to learn is on the job. It will always be stressful and sometimes, heartbreaking, however, when we learn from our experiences, good or bad, it sticks and would become a better way to teach others.
Everyone wants to be successful but not everyone wants to pay the price for success. Where we shrink or shy away from labour, the resulting success most of the times would be short-lived. Labour in this case may not be "hard", rather a commitment that may be smart, engagement and probably consistency brought to bare.
Growing up and trying to start up life was never easy, especially in a country like Nigeria where a great proportion of the populace are looking to the "corrupt" government for everything. You become an abnormal person when you attempt to do something different and build yourself as an entrepreneur.
@Achim03 and @Project.hope engineers this writing contest that reminds me of the mistakes I made as an emerging entrepreneur Six Years ago. It wasn't a fun experiance, but, I have grown over it and it became a great lessons I love to share each time I coach Startups.
On a Friday, 28th February, 2014, a friend told me of a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) Business that was going to payback as much as 105% of my investment as interest in Six months. The business needed a minimum investment of $1750 (as at 2014). Meanwhile, I was in my incubating days of my Research Consultancy Business. The ROI of the MLM sounded so real and I could imagine having that much invested to my business in six months time. I went for a hard loan ($2000 then) with 30% Interest rate per annum from a friend and invested into the MLM. The terms of the business was to buy a product worth my investment sum and give to the merchant who will sell the product and give me my profit. I had virtually nothing to contribute to the work. Just to go sleep while my money worked for me. Continue reading here and remember to engage the entry.
My Fails
Counting the cost before any business engagement is a crucial step to take in the planning stage of an investment. Where this is lacking, one may not even stay alive to reap the fruits of the investment especially when the unexpected happens in the negative. This is what happened to me. I was lost in the euphoria of having a 105% payback alongside my investment capital in six months. I didn't mind risking anything to the point of having to buy money for the investment.
We have similar situations when it comes to crypto investments. Like what happened last week. many people were buying bitcoin by impulse of the Halvening news and precedence out of panic. They never waited for the dip like @Rollandthomas would always say. Also, when the price went down, many sold out of panic. This happens when the following lacks on the part of the investor:
- No feasibility study on the business as per sustainability;
- No financial Risk Assessment;
- No opportunity Cost of choosing an alternative over another.
Lessons
- Always do your research and count the cost before making an investment.
- Never be impulsive about investment.
- Investment success is much more than financial gains.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience and recommendations based on your experience in this field.
@newton666,
Thank you for finding time to read my personal experiences.
This is an interesting story that you share - thanks for that @uyobong
I have a friend who started with an investment of about $5k and turned it into $80k within a few months. He had strict rules and followed his system religiously. One day he got greedy and made one impulsive investment. He thought he could make millions but he ended up losing all his money. So, I think your advice is really good, never be impulsive in your investments.
That is always the case. We all at one time would have always been pushed to invest by impulse. Sometimes, experiences as this are meant to reshape our lives. Thanks for the share @Awah
Alot of people are burnt because they refuse to learn the ropes, I have been burnt several times but just learnt more from my mistakes to create abetter me in time
I am quite sure that after these experiences, you'll get there again.
Alot of people are burnt because they refuse to learn the ropes, I have been burnt several times but just learnt more from my mistakes to create abetter me in time
Sir @Uyobong, thank you for sharing this great story here. "Impulsive investment." I would say, it's not only about investment. Everything we do, We have to be careful about our decisions.
Certainly, Yes!
@tipu curate
Tipu is not yet here ooo
Truth be told, every body has their own worst experience, you cant be winning all the time.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, some lessons are better learnt from personal experience.
I'm glad you also found time to read through.
@uyobong life test you , with your experience only you will get to earn more, we have to make investment to learn our mistake.
Yeah, however, we have to learn lest we get consumed in the mistakes.
Rarely have I seen people who do not take risk become successful in life. Dr. Ben Carson wrote a book Take the Risk and I think that it is pertinent to take the risk sometimes but the risk shouldn't be the one that will destroy us.
Every businessman is a risk taker. Even a person who fails to invest is also taking risk. However, our risks should be informed and relevant knowledge sought. Thanks for the add.
Noted, thank you for clearing my doubts. I appreciate and I hope that I'll take that risk to invest.