2009-05-12 | Everyday English | Hits:488 | AddFavorite(0)

Nine times out of ten, I would choose to invest in a business over buying a house. I would make this choice for three reasons. First, a business investment matches my current interests. Second, this choice would allow me to make a long-term plan. And third, such an investment could result in significant earnings.

 

After a longtime consulting career, over the past several years, I’ve observed that most American companies are far more focused on cutting costs than growing. Consequently, these businesses will use increasingly fewer consulting services. In turn, I concluded that my career interests lay elsewhere. Investing in a new type of business—in my case, an online firm—appeared to be a savvy way to reinvent myself and my career. Investing my own money in a new business—especially when banks were reluctant to lend—made sense.

 

Starting my Internet-based business in the U.S. and expanding to China also allows me to make a long-term plan—both for my company and for myself. In the future, I hope to reside part of each year in the U.S. and partly in China. Doing so will be desirable both professionally and personally. At any point, if I choose to live in one country over the other, I can do so and still have many friends, no matter where I live.

 

Assuming my business is successful, in the coming years, I would expect to attract advertisers, investors, or, most likely, both. Whether my business generated revenues through advertisers, obtained investments from another communication training company or private equity firm, or was acquired by another entity, I envision that my original investment would lead to a sizeable monetary reward. In other words, the return on the funds I didn’t use to buy a house would be excellent.