Image by: StockMonkeys.com
By Tony Melino

A lot of American’s are having a difficult time when it comes to investing. Some people are incredibly blind to the difference of investing and essentially; spending money on something that isn’t promising.

Sure, you could invest in a company and gain or lose money. That would be an investment. You have to be careful when it comes to who you invest with because you could just be shoveling your money into the furnace.

Don’t worry – I’ve got your back fellas. Let’s discuss the difference between spending and investing.

Spending Vs. Investing

Let’s go through a quick general discussion about the difference between spending and investing is to begin with.

– You spend time watching television but you invest time reading.
– You spend time on the couch but you invest time at the gym.
– You spend time procrastinating but you invest time doing something that brings you closer to your goals.

Now you get the general idea. Let’s take it into the investment world.

Investments are meant to be good. It’s to hold off the pleasure of obtaining instant gratification in order to gain something more than you’re capable of in the present time. Essentially; investing means you will put money to work for you at the present moment to make more of it in the future.

Viola! That’s what investing means. Now spending on the other hand is the exact opposite. People crave instant gratification – no matter what it is. They are in debt but they don’t take the steps to get out of it. They are obese and lazy but refuse to go to the gym.

Case Study

Let’s take Disneyland as the example. Disney knows how to invest their money instead of just spending it. The uniforms are incredibly old fashioned and they have been used since the beginning of time. If Disney redesigned every single uniform and then purchased them for every single employee, they would be throwing money away.

They just expanded their California Adventures park by adding the Carsland attraction. It cost over $2 billion. Within the first year; it had already brought in $1 billion in revenue on top of the costs of hiring new employees.

It was an investment that paid off. It not only paid off; but they have to redesign the park passes because it’s so busy every single day. It’s bringing in more business than the Disneyland park itself – which has never happened in history.

So California residents can no longer get discount perks unless they purchase an annual pass which is over $1,000 per person. They make them attainable by using a month to month option so people can enjoy a year long pass instead of purchasing individual tickets at $140 per adult.

Conclusion

Essentially; investing in your company (or your future) will not only benefit the company (you), but will benefit your employees as well. Spending more money [that you don’t have] for instant gratification will not only crumble your business; but eventually you’ll have to close your doors.

The biggest companies in the world invest more money into their company than they spend. Be on the same page as these conglomerates and you’ll be in a good position.