Investment Strategies: Buying a Business to Build Wealth?
Recently, Forbes took a comprehensive look at how many Forbes 400 members founded their own businesses and at what age. The end results were clear: unless you’re planning on inheriting your wealth, it’s best to start or buy a business earlier rather than later.
How Do Investment Strategies Make People Rich?
Almost half of the entrepreneurs in the ranks — Forbes classifies 254 of the 400 list members as founders — started a business before they hit 30; nearly 85% had by age 40. The average age was 32. The company they founded wasn’t necessarily the one that ultimately made them rich, but it marked the official beginning of their entrepreneurial path. It’s possible to hit the jackpot if you start later with your investment strategies, but it requires careful and deliberate strategies with little room for careless errors.
Ernest Hemingway apparently got the answer wrong when F. Scott Fitzgerald told him “the rich are different from you and me” and Hemingway responded, “Yes, they’ve got more money.” His answer should have been: “They own businesses.”
The odds of having business income increase substantially once adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds $100,000. More than 40 percent of people with an AGI of $250,000 or more have one of these two types of businesses as part of their investment strategies. More than 72 percent of the really wealthy, people who earn more than $1 million per year, have a partnership or S-Corp. Nine-in-ten of the super-wealthy, people with an AGI in excess of $10 million, have a business.
The Power of Diversification
IRS data reveals that the majority of the “top one percent” has a partnership in an S-Corp where they own a stake in a business. Research shows that most of today’s millionaires weren’t born into their wealth. No matter how millionaires obtain their money, they all share some common traits. This includes prioritizing savings and diversifying portfolios in their investment strategies. Further, a second study by Fidelity Investments found that 88% of all millionaires are self-made and did not inherit wealth.
Many self-made millionaires have money coming in from several sources, including their salaries, dividends from investments, income from rental properties, and investments they have made in other business enterprises. If one income stream slows down, there’s another that can take its place. Much of this is called passive income with money being earned without actively spending time and effort in the enterprise.
The question remains, do rich people buy businesses or create businesses?
Wealthy people do both, depending on how much capital they have to invest. Buying a business is preferred for the following reasons.
- A buyer of an existing business cuts to the front of the line and saves time. That’s worth a premium to anyone! Thinking upon what Mark Cuban said recently, “Your most valuable commodity is your time because it is limited”. Building a business that is profitable and proven to be stable over time (1–3 years) takes a lot of hard work. If I can save that much time, it would be worth paying for, especially if it is undervalued which many are. You have to know where to look and what you’re looking for. In fact, sometimes investors buy opportunities where the business isn’t profitable but they see how it could be.
- The return on investment is better than just about anywhere else you could invest your money. Let’s run an example. The US stock market is touted as the best place to invest based on its average annual return of 9%. So theoretically, if I park $500,000 in stocks, I can expect to get an average annual return of $45,000. Instead, if I buy an established, profitable business with that money instead, right now businesses are selling on average, at about 3 times net earnings. Let’s say I just paid full price for a business at that multiple. I could buy a business that was earning $166,000 per year in annual net profits and earn 3.5 times more than the stock market.
Investment strategies can take many forms and the most successful include business purchases and ownership. If you are interested in purchasing a business, take a look at what we have available here. Want us to find something specific? Reach out to us about a buyside engagement!
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Edwin Mysogland, CVA, CEPA, CMEA
Managing Partner, Indiana Business Advisors
Indiana Business Advisors is the top business brokerage firm in the state of Indiana and one of the largest in the Midwest. Whether you are looking to a buy a business or sell a business, Indiana Business Advisors has the expertise and experience to get the deal completed. With over 40 years of history and 2200 businesses sold all over the United States, our team will work diligently to achieve your professional and personal goals.