I think one of the biggest reasons businesses fail is the inability to understand numbers. Many people have great ideas, but not everyone understands finances. This is why we have business owners and then we have serial entrepreneurs. Business owners tend to own one company and they tend to struggle for the first 10 years (if they make it that far) because the financial end has a learning curve. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, own many companies because they understand numbers and are more engaged with balance sheets than the products or services they are selling. neither option is great for both the development of a company and customer service, a balance has to be struck!
So, all this said, I figured I would offer a very basic lesson in investing. You need $100 to execute this practice, but it will teach you a valuable lesson. With your $100, buy one share of a stock market Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). I suggest you Open an account with TD Ameritrade. Opt into the commission-free ETF program. Buy one share of the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT). This means you are buying into a pool of companies (about 5,000) from around the world.
Now what? Wait. You can loose money, but you can gain money. The key is to focus on the numbers and understand how commerce truly works by using your own money. Worst case scenario is you lose $100 dollars. Best case scenario, you grow that same $100 dollars and learn the balance between owning a business and investing in a company.
Until tomorrow,
Twyla Garrett
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