5 ways you can invest $100 living In the Caribbean

There has been this ever repeated tradition passed down from generation to generation,that is you should save your money.While this method of growing your wealth isn't all wrong and had its run during the 19th-20th century, this method is no longer the most effective way to build your wealth today.

Let's face it, not everyone is going to end up with a high income and or become the next mark zuckerberg or bill gates and even if you do, saving your money is still not the best way to grow your wealth.

What's wrong with Saving your money?

Inflation

If you Do not know much about inflation or what it even is, that's ok, I didn't either, not until I got into finance and learning how money works. Have you ever wondered why is it that a product you would have bought two years ago cost you almost double now? Well that's inflation for you. To explain what inflation really is will take more than this blog, it's a complicated subject and is influenced by different factors, but to put it in the simplest terms, inflation is where the value of your dollar drops, which influences the rise in the price of products. The higher inflation is the lower your dollar value becomes which means the higher the cost of living. Study has shown from previous years that inflation in 2014 was 3.23% and has risen to 3.58% in 2019, which means it has gone up by 0.35% in the last five years. Though it has been predicted that it will fall by 0.16% in the next five years, it is safe to say that in the next 20-30 years it will be far more than what it is at this moment, So imagine saving your money, only to have it sit in your bank awaiting retirement. Best scenario, inflation only goes up by 2%for the next 20-30 years that will mean your cost of living now would have drastically change at retirement, it just won't be able to sustain your retirement. (Information on inflation link here)

Bank Fees vs savings rate

You can argue with me that your bank adds interest to your money and that it should be able to cover the inflation cost, well you may be right. If your bank is giving you more than the inflation rate which is least likely to happen by the way, But let's say it does, your bank is more than likely charging you a fee to save your money or will some time in the near future and I can promise you unless you're a millionaire where you are banking enough for interest to be more than the fees, you are going to be spending more than the interest.

Those are just two reasons why saving your money is not a great wealth building strategy.

Now don't misunderstand me, saving is an excellent way of starting off your growth to wealth!, it is better than spending all your money. Study has shown that only 39% of Americans have enough saved to cover a $1000 emergency, (link to the article here) that means the average american is more likely spending above their needs and are usually in crisis when they have an emergency, I can imagine it being the same here in the caribbean, but saving only isn't the best option. I have been recommending to my clients to save up to $2000 for emergency and the rest after should go to investments ( Check out this article on savings in the caribbean)

With all that has been said, it is important to know that this article is not for the minority that have the money to invest big cash into things like real estate etc. Instead its for the majority who has the minority mindset but do not have the capital. Here are 5 ways you can invest $100 that will ultimately lead you to having the capital to invest like the minority do.

(1) Self Development

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”- Benjamin Franklin

If you are not investing in yourself you are wasting money hands down, then you would have been better off just letting it sit in the bank. Every person no matter the age or gender should be investing in their knowledge and skills, especially in the digital times we are now living in where education is almost easily accessible for little to nothing. I strive to make it a habit to finish at least 2-3 books per year. Everyday I use my extra time to watch financial educating videos. I taught myself how to build my own website, how to sell, I took speaking lessons to learn how to give public speeches, spending $100 for a wealth of education is easy today and is well worth the time and money. Imagine how much you're going to make with the knowledge you have accumulated, you can lose your job, you can lose a business but unless you're brain damage you can't lose your knowledge, with this you can start a new business or find a new job. I will encourage you to do your research on courses or books that pertains to your field and invest in the ones that Will give you your money’s worth. Here is a link to the site I did my very first course on and it cost me only $27. That's far less than $100. You can start there if you like. Here are a few books, I personally recommend everyone investing their money and time into. It has changed the way I think and has contributed tremendously to my self development.

• Think and Grow Rich - written by Napoleon Hill

• Rich Dad Poor Dad - written by Robert Kiyosaki

• How to Win Friends and Influence People - written by Dale Carnegie

(2) Micro Investing

We are living in a time where more and more small businesses are starting, people are looking for capital to start their business or to advance it. You can become a personal small lender. For example when I was starting my online business which I will talk about shortly. All I needed to start was $100 which I had to get a Job first to start, however, I kept wishing that there was someone I can borrow the money from. Banks do not lend any less that $500 if lucky and quick cash businesses usually have extremely high interest rates. Becoming a small lender to small start ups can be a tricky one, especially if you do not know what you're doing, I will recommend getting a written agreement that states how much you're lending, and how much the person will pay you back monthly, for example let's say you've lend $100 to someone that needs tools to start their plumbing business, you can then say to them your interest fees are 10% per month of the money for 12-18 months. That will give you $120 in a year and $180 in a year and a half. Far more than how much you would have made waiting on interest from your bank saving your money. I call this process micro investing since you're investing in small amounts.

Another way of investing is by using your knowledge to help the business to grow, if you have a specific skill that can help scale a small business you can offer your advice in exchange for a small percentage in shares of the business, and the same with investing your money. Instead of looking for any returns right away, buy small percentages of shares in their business by investing your $100. I will encourage you to seek advice from lawyers and financial advisors near you on the subject, to avoid any major risk.

(3) Starting An Ecommerce Business

As I mentioned before I started an online business (link here), starting this was as simple as buying a few items that cost very little, then reselling them at a higher value. I started with only $100, this method is called flipping. Buying a product from a cheaper source and reselling it for higher. After you make your first sale place all the money including the profit back into purchasing more items whether the same things or a variety of items. You repeat the process until you are at the point that you can then start investing into bigger items that will give you high incomes. The advantage of this business is that there is no rent involved, no employees needed, and if you take the time to develop the skills to build your own websites, learn how to market your products you save on paying someone to do those things. The key here is to understand the market in your area, understand what sells the most, what do people want, how many competitors do you have in that specific product(s). (If you are interested in learning how to build and grow an ecommerce business, please feel free to inbox me.)

(4) Affiliate Marketing

What puzzled me the most is seeing that the caribbean is filled with a lot of people who are influencers and yet they do not use the opportunity to make the extra cash. Give a beauty salon for example, this salon maybe filled with bookings each month or may have a big enough clientele to keep them running. Is it because they are cheaper than the others? No, not at all, I don’t care how cheap you are, if your services are rubbish no one will buy, so this means most buyers are there because they trust the services of the salon, same with a barber shop. If I was an owner with this sort of influence then I would be reaching out to cosmetic stores or wholesale stores, and propose to them that I may sample their product and if I am confident that their products are worth telling my clients about I would love to recommend it in return for a commission for every sale I get them, but let’s suppose the company isn’t willing to hand out free samples. This is where your $100 comes in, buy one or two samples from two different suppliers, test the product yourself and then take your proposal to the company whose product has your self confidence. Give them your terms, for example, you can say you want 10% of the sales for the month. You also have the opportunity to scale your sales if you have a social media presents where you keep your clients and potential clients engaged with your business, this gives you the opportunity to recommend the product to a wider audience. This is not just limited to beauty salons and barber shops, whatever niche you’re in, I am sure there are products that surrounds that niche, I am sure that your clients don’t buy into your services because it is cheap but rather because you provide a service that they trust and once you have their trust you can also influence them. Just do not take advantage of it just to sell them something you don’t know whether it works or not. They will quickly realize it and you’ll lose your clients, instead be genuine about what you recommend to them. Have displays in your shop or talk about the item with them and as they buy, you make a commission.

But let’s say you do not own a business, there are tons of services, just in your country alone that are looking for ways to make some extra income and is willing to pay for the extra sales if the price is worth it. Offer these businesses the opportunity to recommend their services to your friends and family for a commission. For example, let's say your girls are always asking you “where did you do your hair?” Or your friends ask you, “who did you hire to cut your lawn?” You can offer these businesses a propsal where you can recommend their services for a commission each time the person you recommend uses their services. Back in 2014 an associate of mine and myself were running an electronic repair business, we took the initiative by inviting people to sign up as an affiliate for our services and those who tested our services took it. We offered them a proposal where they will be paid a certain commission percentage for each customer they recommend and that they will receive it each time the customer comes back. We offered them the opportunity to make passive income. I promise you if you want to make passive income each month. While working a 9-5 job this is the easiest route to take.

(5) Data mining

A few weeks ago while waiting in a bank line, I overheard two retired men talking about wealth, one then asked the other "how does mark zuckerberg or bill gates make money, what made them millionaires? After all isn't Facebook and google free for the public?"

To answer his question for you, I will first ask, how do you think Facebook or google knows what ads to send to you? Its because everything you click on, like, subscribe to, is recorded by google and facebook when using the platform. Your data is then sold to companies all across the world from the furthest continent to your local businesses. Gold and Silver is no longer the wealth of the world, its data, that is why cyber terrorism is so rampant now, it is why cyber security is in high demand. So how do you get a piece of the pie? Well its easier than you may think. All you need to do is create surveys, whether on a specific niche or product. Ask questions that will give you great insight to what customers of that field will love to have. For example, if you see that there are a lot of restaurants in your country, do a survey on what's customers favorite restaurant?, why is it?, what's their favorite meal? Etc. Make sure you collect their information like, where do they live, their number, age range, email address. Let them know that the information is to help improve the quality service that they are currently being offered. You can now take this information and organize it into a readable presentation for the restaurants. Let them know that you have a list of potential clients who are interested in their food. And you are willing to sell them the information . offer that same deal to all the restaurants in your area.

Another example comes from my online store. If you check all of my purchasing forms, you will notice that just before filling out the form I let my customers know that their information may be sold to a third person party. Now that I have a list of emails and numbers and I know exactly what my customers bought from me. I can sell this information to businesses that sells the specific Items these customers were interested in, for example if they bought a phone, I know they are the customers who will be interested in the accessories like a case or earphones etc. So I will then go to businesses and say something like this " hey I offer the same products you do, except my business is online and I have been collecting the information of everyone that buys from me. I will like to offer you the opportunity to advertise your service to my contact list. It will cost you $ for 100 text messages, $ for 50 emails or you can have a package deal of $ for 100 text and 60 emails." The business owner will then agree or disagree ( usually they will because I am reassuring them that these potentials are the ones into what they sell.

If you made it all the way to the end of this blog and have learned at least one thing from it CONGRATULATIONS! You just walked away with more knowledge than you had previously, also THANK YOU for taking the time to read the blog, and please leave a like to let me know if you enjoyed it, and as usual leave a comment on what you enjoyed about the blog. Also if you have any other ideas that persons such as myself can invest that extra cash into, leave it in the comment box below.