Diversify or Slowly Die

It is normal to hear in business, you should expand or die, or you should diversify or slowly die.

I diversify my gardening by planting new trees such as belimbing besi, limau bali, harum manis, nangka and cempedak. This is to ensure the survival of small trees (renek) such as herbs, vegetable, and flower trees. My daughter found that there are many lady bugs on the tree outside my house's wall. It is a good sign because lady bug does not only helps the pendebungaan but it also eat harmful bugs. So indirectly, lady bugs help to ensure the survival of my herbs, flowers and vegetables.

In property investment, it is safer to have properties in more than a single type of property. My first two investment were only houses. Then, I bought a shop lot. I felt it is a lot safer for investment. Now, I am sure it a safer investment. In previous economy slow down, there were many houses without tenant, or rent at lower price. But an empty shop lot was quickly rent out as fast as two weeks. Then, I managed to get a land. Afterwards, I bought a house and a shop lot at the same time. All my houses are in different market segment.

But, I faced a major problem. I am not getting any younger. With the new house, I have to do major renovation before I moved in. The renovation used a lot of money, time and effort. This also means I have less income compared to if I rent out the new house. I also do not need to spend much money if I just rent out the new house. But, I have no choice. Then, I got cheated by the contractor who did the initial renovation. I already paid 95% of the agreed cost. But the incomplete work was more than 30%. I had to find additional fund to complete the house. This only made me more determine to complete the renovation at all cost. So, I became the project manager, the acquisition manager, planning manager, manpower manager and quality control manager. I also managed to train my eldest son to be the assistant executive to fill my gaps.

Now, I have to consolidate my investment. I must trim any wastage. I have to find additional, and new sources of income to supplement my financial shortcoming. It looks like my current income sources are insufficient for expensive entertainment, and unexpected eventualities.