BIO: MD Imdadul Islam (Imdad) is a business strategist, speaker, and collaborator. He collaborates with CEOs, CXOs, sales leaders, Realtors, and Financial Advisors to help them grow via Personal Branding, Social Selling, and Employee Advocacy.

STORY: Imdad met a guy who sold him on the idea of investing in his online business. He borrowed money from his mom and put it into the company. He received some returns the first two months, but after that, the guy went mute. Eventually, he learned that the company had closed shop, and that’s how he lost his six-figure investment.

LEARNING: Never invest with borrowed money. Know the business well before you invest in it.

“Don’t borrow money to invest because that’s not your money to lose.”

MD Imdadul Islam

Guest profile

MD Imdadul Islam is a business strategist, speaker, and collaborator. He collaborates with CEOs, CXOs, sales leaders, Realtors, and Financial Advisors to help them grow via Personal Branding, Social Selling, and Employee Advocacy.

He has gained experience in the consulting profession by working with a number of Group Companies, SMEs, and Startups in Bangladesh.

Worst investment ever

Imdad was always interested in becoming an investor. So he’d network with many people and talk to his seniors about their investments and how they do it. He met a guy who shared an investment opportunity at a company dealing with some online business. Imdad didn’t understand much about the business, but he believed the guy when he told him they could multiply his investment.

Imdad went to his mom and asked her to lend him money to invest in the business. His mom loaned him a six-figure amount, which was quite a big deal because she wasn’t rich, but she trusted Imdad.

He took the money and invested it in the business. Imdad got some returns the first two months, then suddenly there were no more payments. His friend told him that the business was just going through typical business hurdles and would bounce back.

When the payments didn’t come through for a couple of months, Imdad visited their office only to find the company had shut down. His calls went unanswered, and soon enough, he realized he had been scammed.

Lessons learned

Before you invest, learn about the business. Understand how the company makes money, where your investment will go and if the company can generate a return for itself and you.
Never invest by borrowing money because that’s not your money, and should you lose it, the loss will be twice-fold.

Andrew’s takeaways

Be careful when a stranger or someone you barely know comes to you with an investment proposal. Such people are experts at playing on your emotions and will often scam you.

Actionable advice

At least have a basic idea of what you want to do before you do anything, not just in investment but in everything in life.

No. 1 goal for the next 12 months

Imdad’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to add value to more people and help them grow their personal brand.

Parting words

“The best investment you can ever make is in yourself.”

MD Imdadul Islam

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