“Stock reports, ewwwh! I, hate these figures all over the white space,” Boye, my 21 year-old Cobbler friend lamented as he angrily flipped over the newspaper sheet. He is the least disgusted of my young entrepreneur friends. But they are need investors!
The stock market has a character and nomenclature that is different from one country to another. Many young entrepreneurs find the reports boring, maybe too technical and a bit old school, some others think, yeah! it is for the billionaires and investors with too much money to throw around. Following daily stock market reports is vital for the budding entrepreneur for the following reasons:
- The market reveals the buying behaviour of prospective investors
Keeping abreast of daily reports helps you to track investors’ interest and helps you make intelligent adjustments to your business. Sometimes it is not just about your competence and the available resources but what investors want. The stocks can be very erratic and dynamic, with several bizarre choices. Stocks reports should influence your external positioning while maintaining internal stability or values.
- Relationship with Stockbrokers
Your sustained interest in stocks can expose you to stockbrokers. Apart from the fact that you will can always glean from their financial intelligence, they have ready contacts of investors and prospective clients, who can become an angel investor tomorrow.
A stockbroker friend will not hesitate to discuss the opportunities that lies in your budding business, and get to invite you for a lunch with his client. Who knows? You may just be called upon to submit a business plan.
- Expanded areas of Business Interest
As a young and budding entrepreneur, most likely you already have an area of interest or confused about what areas to trade in. The stock market floor is a good place to regularly visit to have a picture of the nation’s economic stance. By skimming or scanning the report pages, you have an idea of the most active market and the less traded ones.
Also, it will give you more reasons to expand as there will be highly potential areas yet to be discovered by investors and through necessary financial advice. For instance, the Nigerian Stock Exchange which favoured oil and gas, conglomerates and consumables now offer fantastic opportunities for agricultural and solid mineral companies.
- Know the jargons, Join the wagon
As a greenhorn (doesn’t matter if you don’t like that), the business jargons is part of the initiation process and a license for membership. Reading the stock market reports help you to know how small companies get “incorporated”, approach the public by making an “initial public offer”, announce their unit of “shares” on different media assuring prospective “shareholders” of bumper “dividends”.
You will be able to track investors’ reaction on why the market is “bearish” and understand their relief when it charges forward like “a bull”. The numbers are not as confusing as you think, when you study the reports you are able to know the numbers of companies “quoted” on the floor of the market, see the “gains” and “losses” and the total volume of the “deals” made just before the market “closes”.
If you have a good vision and hope to be big one day, then you must understand the buying intelligence. Besides who says you can’t start buying now. Bill Gates’ Microsoft was “tiny” when it was already selling IPs to IBM, they have both gone ahead to partner on several projects.
- You become a smart entrepreneur
The future of any business depends largely on the dexterity of its owner or manager. Stocks reports are not just to bore you but can improve your financial intelligence. Apart from the fact that you will automatically de-list yourself from owners who know nothing about figures, you will be able to draw insights and make near-perfect predictions for your market.
Yeah, young entrepreneurs should not think of investing in stocks yet, but their business first. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t begin to study reports on your way to greatness.
And maybe we need testimonials, investors how have the stocks reports helped you? Sure you got my back, hopefully.
Images: Google
Great!