If there’s anything you pick up from billionaire Indian businessmen, let it be money-management lessons. You don’t need a high-paying job to increase your financial portfolio. Of course, it helps, but if you’re smart with managing your money, then you can make sure that your money is working for you, instead of it being the other way around. Granted that managing your finances can be a pain, not to mention boring, but here are some tips by some of the biggest Indian businessmen (and businesswomen). Take some notes on how to manage your money habits and learn from these billionaires.
1. Have a purpose
When you have a specific goal or a specific number in mind that you want to get to, then it’s easier to tailor your investment strategy to achieve that goal. Ask yourself why you are investing and have clear reasons and purpose for it, whether it’s to save enough money to buy a house or accumulate enough for early retirement. Whatever your purpose may be, it is always better to set a goal so that you have a vision of where your investment will work better in your set time period.
In an interview, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, shared the advice that his father and founder of Reliance Industries, Dhirubhai Ambani, gave him when it comes to making money. “He said that if you start anything just to make money, you are a fool, because you will never make any money or be a billionaire,” said Mukesh Ambani in an interview with India Today in 2017. “If you start with a purpose and if your purpose is that you want to be the best in the world, you want to do what nobody else has done, then money is a by-product and that by-product should never be important. I still follow his advice.”
2. Take more risks
If you’re young and have a longer timeline when it comes to your retirement, then Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar advises you to indulge in a few risks. “Don’t be afraid to take risks along the way. You are blessed to be entering a world that is now increasingly risk-friendly. Spend the early years of your career taking the right risks and make some bold bets on yourself. Test what you like and what you don’t. Take on roles that put you outside of your comfort zone and challenge yourself,” the 59-year-old businesswoman said at the 57th Annual Convocation of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in 2022.
The logic is that young investors who have a longer timeline can afford to take a few risks in their portfolio since they have plenty of time to recover from the market turndowns. As this timeline keeps decreasing over the years, you can then invest in more conservative investments to protect your portfolio from a volatile market.
3. Have a conscious
Conscious investing is aligning your mind and your heart by keeping your eyes open about not just the outcomes of your financial portfolio, but also the path you take to get what you want. That is why the concept of ESG (environment, social and governance) investments is gaining momentum, a concept that encourages being conscious about the impact of an investment on the environment, society, and diversity. Ratan Tata, industrialist, philanthropist and former chairman of Tata Sons, has time and again initiated this very idea.
“Chasing profits is not a bad thing — the question is what do you do to get there, how much value you’re adding to your customers and shareholders, and how ethical that journey has been,” he said at the YourStory Leadership Talk, in 2020. “Business is not just about making money — one has to do right by their customers and stakeholders, and they have to do that ethically,” he added.
4. Let your money mature
While some Indian businessmen like Falguni Nayar do speak about taking risks, that does not mean you put all your bets on very risk-heavy investments. Find a balance between risky and mature investments. Whether your choice of saving is putting your money in a fixed deposit or investing in mutual funds or real estate, having long-term goals can get you higher returns over a period of time 5 to 10 years. Indian businessman and investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was a big propagator of this. In an interview, the late billionaire, who was known as the Warren Buffett of India, emphasized not going by the trend, but investing wisely and letting your money mature.
“Everything in life is about maturity, don’t go on scaling your bets. If you get a debt with six percent return, your target should be to get 15-24 percent on equity. Don’t involve yourself in gambling with stocks that go up by 40 and 50 percent everyday,” Jhunjhunwala said in an interview with Times Network India Economic Conclave in 2021.
Jhunjhunwala started dabbling in stocks while he was in college with a capital of Rs 5,000 in 1985, with his first major profit in 1986.
5. Don’t invest in things you don’t understand
Here’s a logical rule to live by: don’t invest in something that you don’t understand, and that includes bitcoin, or NFTs, or even stocks. Do your research and educate yourself about things you see potential in. Make an assessment instead of just following what your financial manager tells you to do. Just because it’s trendy or some individual struck gold, does not mean it would be the same for you. Understand your wants and needs and build a portfolio that you would get. Uday Kotak, Indian banker and founder of Kotak Mahindra Banks, stands by this rule, even when it comes to his own portfolio.
“If you do not understand something, do not do it. Very often finance professionals will give you very complex structures. I think it requires humility to say ‘I do not understand it, therefore I will not do it’. It is better to be stupid now than sorry later,” he said in an interview with Financial Times.
