3 Reasons Why Business Owners Should Invest

Insights from 20 years in a family business

If you’ve been running a business for years—maybe even decades—you’ll know that entrepreneurship is equal parts vision, risk, and grit. Like many others, I poured everything I had into building the family business. We weathered storms, chased opportunities, and kept reinvesting every dollar back into operations, stocks and people.

But after 20 years in the trenches, I’ve come to realise this: while we were good at building the business, we weren’t as good at protecting and growing the wealth that came from it. We didn’t have a clear strategy to preserve, accumulate, or enhance what we had built. And that left us vulnerable.

Today, I work not only in business—but also in financial planning. And if you’re a business owner reading this, here are 3 key reasons why you should start investing beyond your business.

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1. For Future Expansion of the Business

Most business owners reinvest profits into their own company. And while that makes sense in the early stages, it can also become a bottleneck. What happens when an opportunity comes—but you don’t have the cash reserves to seize it? What if a crisis hits, and your only assets are illiquid? (In my case, gemstones...)

By setting aside part of your earnings into a well-structured investment portfolio—especially through platforms like CIS (Collective Investment Schemes)—you create an external growth engine. This not only provides liquidity when you need it, but it can also be a source of working capital when you want to expand, franchise, or acquire.

In short, investing buys you options. And options are power.

2. To Generate Passive Income for Your Family

One of the most common regrets I hear from seasoned entrepreneurs is this: “I built this for my family, but I never gave them security.” We assume that as long as the business is doing well, the family will be okay. But what if the business slows down—or something happens to us? Worse, when I found out that I was insufficiently protected if something happens to me when I travel. My family will have to suffer and bear with all the losses. 

A smart investment plan can create a stream of passive income—through dividends, interest, or capital gains—that supports your family even when you’re not working. It can also serve as an emergency buffer, education fund, or retirement pot.

This isn’t about diverting resources from your business. It’s about ringfencing a portion of what you earn and turning it into a legacy that’s stable, protected, and growing.

3. To Develop Better Leadership

This might sound surprising, but investment changes how you think as a business owner.

When you learn to manage a portfolio—whether it’s in equities, bonds, funds, or alternative assets—you begin to develop a sharper sense of risk management, diversification, time horizon, and opportunity cost. These are the same mental muscles required to lead your business into its next season.

In my case, learning how to invest gave me the clarity to separate my personal and business finances. It gave me the discipline to plan long-term. And more importantly, it gave me the ability to lead with wisdom, not just hustle.

Conclusion: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

If I could go back 10 or 15 years, I would have started investing earlier—not just in my business, but also outside of it. I would have set aside time to understand how to protect what we’ve built and position it to grow, regardless of what happens in the economy.

So if you’re reading this and you’re a business owner, I want to encourage you: Don’t just build—protect. Don’t just sell—accumulate. Don’t just survive—grow wisely.

If you’re curious about how to get started, or you want to know more about investing and how it could help you structure your financial goals, I’d love to chat. You can reach out to me anytime for a conversation—no pressure, just clarity.