this past week, i received a fiscal tip from seth godin that jumped out at me. “borrow money to buy things that go up in value, but never to get something that decays over time.” this got me thinking. prudent marketing is EXACTLY the kind of investment for which people should stretch, dig deep, etc. i say prudent because it’s very easy to convince yourself that you’re spending money in a manner which will at least cover the initial debt. the goal, of course, is to generate some significant gain beyond the borrowing action — one that wouldn’t occur naturally. the reality is that there are far too many vanity expenditures, ineffective measures or slow-pay methods than can be adopted. there’s also the tendency to avoid critical thinking, or the inability to step outside of oneself to see what may or may not be a good-fit, viable strategy.
before you go thinking that i advocate debt whole-heartedly — that is not my message. i’m saying that if you’re doing nothing…or you’re waiting for the right time…and you have the means and/or access to borrow a reasonable amount of capital for something that will boost your prospects in the near-term…then you should look into it today. better still, pull the trigger. we’ve heard it a gazillion times. it takes money to make money. if not now then when? despite the don-trodden talk that’s far too easily uttered these days, there’s an abundance of opportunity out there —and there are less people with whom you’ll need to compete. that’s an exciting notion!
