Investment is an asset acquired to build wealth and save money from the hard earned income or appreciation. Investment is primarily to obtain an additional source of income or to gain profit from the investment over a specific period of time.
To carry out an investment, one needs to make certain plans and carry them out. These plans are:
• Review your finances
• Set your financial goals
• Understand investment risk
• Research your investment options
• Build your portfolio
• Monitor your investments
With all these done accurately, you are more than expected to have good results from your investment.
An investment involves putting capital to work, in the form of money, time, labour, and efforts amongst others, with the hope of greater payoff in the future than what was originally put in. an investment can also generate future income such as; bonds, real estate property, stocks, and alternatives investment. What people do not understand is investments do not come with guarantees of appreciation because risks are always in businesses, so it is possible to end up with lesser money than what you started with.
Although investments can be varied to bring down the high possibility of risk, this may reduce the amount of earning potential.
There’s a concept known as, Return on Investment (ROI), which refers to a profitability means of evaluating how well an investment has performed.
When an investment is made, ROI helps you understand how much profit or loss your investment has earned.
Any action that is taken in the hopes of raising future revenue can be considered as investment. For example, if one chooses to further his or her education after a university degree, say a Master’s degree or PhD, the aim is to increase knowledge and improve skills. The investment of time attending classes and money paid for fees will hopefully result in increased earnings over the student’s career.
This is because investment is done to produce future growth and income, so there is always a certain level of risk associated with investment.
An investment is likely not to generate income, or is likely to lose value over time. For instance, an organisation you made an investment with is likely to go bankrupt.
Same thing applies to education, the degree you invest your time and money to get may not get you a strong and good job, especially with the rate of unemployment we have in Nigeria today.
However, not minding the risk and challenges in investment, is one of the keys to having a successful business. Investing in your business can bring so much benefits to yourself and your business. Investment can help you achieve self -determination and independence, as well as leaving a legacy for your heirs and kin.
Investment can also lead to wealth creation and help you achieve your long-term financial goal. It also enhances quality of living by meeting your personal needs and financial needs.
All these can help you run your business smoothly, and become a successful business person in the end.
Chinedum Anayo 
saharandaily