As an entrepreneur, we all come to a point where we want to invest our money to create more income and more opportunities. I hit this point about 12 months ago and began looking for creative ways to invest my money.
When it came to investing, I had a specific motto that I followed. I wanted to invest money, find decent returns, minimize risk, and trade as little time as possible. That was a hard combination to find.
However, I was able to find a handful of investment opportunities that actually worked really well for me. In this article, I share non-traditional investment ideas:
Rental Properties
There are tons of amazing properties available in various areas. You have to hire a really good real estate agent who understands your motives and goals. From there, you look for properties that require very little capital to purchase, but have a huge upside for generating rent on a monthly basis.
You can put as little as 10% down on a property and rent it out to others. To cut your time investment even more, you can hire property managers that will be responsible for finding renters and maintaining the place. The best part of this investment is that someone else can help you build equity in your property by paying rent each month.
Startup Investments
I receive dozens of emails from individuals looking for investment capital to start up their own business. Typically, you’re going to find businesses that are pre-mvp. That’s a good thing because you’ll get the best deals and have to risk very little capital.
If you can find great teams and great ideas, you can invest small amounts of money. I have invested as little as $2,500 to help a team build a startup of its own. These types of investments carry a huge risk, but if you are able to successfully pick the right one, the potential is endless.
Peer To Peer Lending
Sites like Prosper.com make it easy for you to lend money to others in need. You make a nice return on your investment by charging interest. However, these types of investments can garner a huge risk because people can always run with your money.
However, if you have small amounts of money to invest, this can be a decent way to generate some capital each month. Look for opportunities on peer to peer lending sites and see what you can find!
Virtual Currencies
I put a good amount of money into Doge when the Bitcoin explosion happened a few months ago. While these investments are high-risk, you can obtain a really good reward if you are successful.
Best of all, these types of investments require very little up-front capital. I was able to get my hands on a lot of doge coin for just under $500. The risk was high, but the time commitment is very low.
Kiosks & Franchises
If you have a bit more capital to invest, you can find various franchises and kiosks that have high growth potential. Instead of investing into Subway’s or McDonald’s, you can look for new franchises that are gaining traction in your area.
Franchises can typically run you in the 6 figures while mall kiosks can be far cheaper. You can obtain a mall kiosk for $5,000 to $50,000. These can require some time in the beginning, but if you can find good managers, it can be a very passive investment.
Metals/Hot Commodities
There are tons of metals such as gold and silver that people make a lot of money off of each year. Not only that, but you can find other rare commodities to invest your money into.
The best part about these types of investments is that you can invest as much money or as little money as you wish. You need to spend quite a bit of time understanding the markets and what causes the prices of ores to increase or decrease.
Conclusion
In this article, I shared a variety of non-traditional investment ideas that don’t require a ton of capital or time. Do you have any investment ideas that have worked very well for you? Share them in the comments below.
photo credit: wonderwebby via photopin cc
