The One Question I Ask Before Every Investment

As a business owner, you're used to making tough decisions — hiring, pricing, capital allocation, market entry.

But when it comes to your personal wealth, do you pause and ask yourself the right questions?

I do.

And I always begin with this one:

“𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞?”

This single question changed the way I invest.

And it changed the trajectory of my personal wealth — permanently.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩

Most entrepreneurs I meet are brilliant at running businesses.

They understand cash flows, margins, scale.

But when it comes to investing, they hesitate. Why?

Because they’re used to 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥.

They want to see the money in their business, real estate, or fixed deposits — things they can “touch.”

But the truth is, control doesn’t always equal growth.

I’ve seen founders with ₹100 crore businesses and barely ₹1 crore in liquid investments.

Why? 

Because they 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 into the business, year after year.

Until one day, they couldn’t!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞

A few years ago, I found myself asking:

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟔 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬?𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞?”

The answer wasn’t pretty

That’s when I stopped treating investing as an afterthought and started treating it as a discipline — just like payroll, GST, or quarterly reviews.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲

· I 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 my monthly investments — just like a SIP debit.

· I built a 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 for my family — not just “savings.”

· I 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 “𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐬” — and started investing from Day 1 of each month.

And most importantly…

· I 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨 of the need to “time the market” or “control the outcome.”

Instead, I focused on process.

Because process builds peace.

And peace is the real ROI.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐦𝐚

𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟:

· Are you building a business 𝐚𝐧𝐝 personal wealth — or just one?

· If your income stops for 6 months, can your investments take care of you?

· Are you working for money — or is your money working for you?

These aren’t philosophical questions.

They’re survival questions.

And they come with a cost if ignored.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭?

It’s time that you move from “business income” to “investment income.”

So, you can:

· Stop trading time for money

· Build freedom beyond the balance sheet

· Sleep better at night

If your wealth isn’t working harder than you — it’s time to fix that.