Rather judge it on what it can bring back to you over time.
I am fortunate in that I have also learned that the cost of something is often hard to see past when we cannot instantly see the long term benefit. The cost reminds us constantly of loss and we don't always easily see the longer term benefit of what that temporary loss can bring back to us later. That is why many people today cannot find a way to save. It isn't because they do not have spare cash, it is because they cannot bear to be without for any period of time just in case.
That is something we have all, perhaps, lost sight of in this day and age of instant gratification. We far too often want the result tomorrow having made the commitment today and so we more often than not do not act on a good, long-term, idea and then wonder why we are left constantly disappointed.
There is a famous parable about the farmer who gives up on his crop before realising the fruits of his labour. Day after day he looked out over his field and saw nothing growing. He didn't understand that the growing took place out of sight, below the surface long before the signs were there for all to see. He gave up on his crop just as it was about to bear profit.
I went to the Angel Business Club Convention on Saturday and before you jump to any conclusions about that, let me tell you that the "Club" is far more than I ever imagined and just brimming with stunning potential. If I may seek your indulgence for a short while, I will explain in full. The biggest fear that most people I have spoken to about why they do not join ABC is this:
"What if I join, subscribe every month and don't get a good return in the end?" Well, I can tell you that, based on what I saw, that is extremely unlikely. And, more importantly, I think it needs only one of a few select opportunities they presented to strike gold and at least 8 of the current opportunities are poised to do that within the next year. In some cases, perhaps even in months.
Short term satisfaction may be achievable here after all.
We are getting involved with companies that are not just good ideas but, more often than not, unique in what they can do. I hadn't realised half of what was going.
But before I get into why. I like to refer to quotes from famous and infamous people that best summarise an otherwise lengthy process with a simple truth and who better to do that, on the subject of getting behind the potential of new companies than Warren Buffett. Love him (know him) or loathe him or know him not, he is a genius when it comes to making money whilst managing (or spreading) risk.
One of my favourite Warren Buffett quotes is this:
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."
In other words, it takes time and patience to enjoy the fruits of labour. When you plan for the future, good things can happen. Especially when you're into something that can produce a good result for you from a number of different sources. That pretty much summarises the work of Angel Business Club. It takes a little faith sometimes, something the farmer in our parable didn't have but the long term picture is rosy indeed.
Now you will notice that I did not insert the word "your" before "labour" and that is because to really create opportunities through money, you need to understand the power of leverage. And one of the most successful ways to leverage an outcome without undue risk is to do it by tapping into or using a portfolio of opportunities. It is perfectly fine to benefit from the labour of others providing you have made a contribution in some way.
But how do you do that? How can you, or I, find, assess and act on the potential of a great opportunity? Many years ago I got into penny shares and, whilst I loved the possibility of hitting on one that was an absolute killer investment, the fact is I didn't have the knowledge or skill or resources (and certainly not the patience) to make the necessary enquiries and do the necessary research to find the jewels.
Thus the penny share journey for me, whilst exciting, was not a good journey financially. Angel Business Club, in contrast, have access to people whose entire purpose is to find those jewels for you and I to benefit from.
Just so we're clear, this is exactly what ABC do:
The Angel Business Club is a private members Club and business accelerator which provides human and financial capital to businesses wanting to accelerate growth. In return, the Club participates in the growth of these Companies through equity participation, which is allocated as free equity entitlements to all active subscribing members.
You will notice that ABC do not sell to us, or offer for sale to us or, through a pool purchase shares on our behalf in companies and projects. The free equity we get is part of what ABC gives us. They also, from time to time, point us towards other fabulous opportunities that we would not normally hear about. They enable us to trade internally between ourselves and stop at any time. It is hard to see any real downside risk to this at all because we are not dependent on one or two or even several businesses getting it right.
When we get free allocations in equity from companies and projects these have already proven their worth and have come up like proverbial cream to the top of a massive list of potentials ready to make that final step into becoming the big businesses of tomorrow. They have been held back only through their need for extra funding and that is where our club come in.
This is how we can all become a small scale Warren Buffett and help to plant those trees now that will allow us and others to sit in luxurious shade in the future.
And so on to the Angel Business Club Convention.
Let me commence this section by saying that the word "convention" does not sum up what this was at all. It was in fact a series of presentations direct from the companies that ABC are backing. Some of these businesses, at least 7 or 8 of them blew me away with their potential. I wanted to go, there and then, and directly buy shares in 8 of the operations that presented. But this isn't an option (yet) and therein lies the biggest secret to ABC. We get in on these companies at the very beginning of the growth period. The teething troubles, the "will they won't they succeed" period has already passed.
It also served to remind me that I didn't fully understand how flexible this structure is.
We are linked, through the club, to what is the only private equity arrangement that offers a service to people who do not need to or cannot afford to come in with multiple thousands of pounds. You can get a slice of a very rich pie for as little as £80 per month. Well, actually, it isn't even £80 per month because you can stop and start, pause your input, and participate for as little or as long a period as you like.
More importantly, you can move your monthly subscription up and down. You could, for example, decide that while Britannia's Gold is part of the offering (see below) that you maximise your monthly subscription so that you gain as much of the free allocation into BG as possible and then drop the level back down when you see fit.
And all I can really say, if asked to summarise, based on my experience of the event, is that I came out of the Holiday Inn feeling very positive about the future of my membership in Angel BC. And I am so looking forward to the next year or so.
Now I have to admit to being no more than a sideline spectator up to this point with Angel BC. Whilst a paying member I wasn't paying attention as much as I should and, as a result, I had already missed some wonderful, additional, opportunities.
It always seemed like a good idea to me to join a club that, over time, potentially produces profits for you out of companies that you'd never get to hear of normally and I had never really looked beyond a few highlights or particularly obvious and interesting start-up companies that they were in to. I, like many, came in primarily for the Britannia's Gold project but I am now convinced that this isn't even the best project on the list.
So much changed for me, for good, on Saturday...
On Saturday at the Holiday Inn I discovered that not only does every company that we indirectly get access to through ABC have excellent potential for growth and success in their business sector but some of them just, well "rock" and will completely dominate their chosen market. Some of the deals some of these businesses have already done are mind blowing.
There is a video that my friend Graham is busily editing that gives you a fair appraisal of what we were privy. It is a report on the highlights from each presentation. I think it may even have divulged one or two things that perhaps shouldn't have been divulged if he doesn't edit those snippets out. And that video will be finished and with us shortly. When it is I will share the link with you and the fideo will go into a little more detail.
For now though, let me summarise the feedback from one particular enterprise because I have been specifically asked about this by a number of people. It is true to say that this one particularly offers, probably, the best chance of a soon to be realised return. It has captured the imagination of many and for good reason.
Britannia's Gold
The big one that everyone has been predominantly talking about over the last year or so is Britannia's Gold. An intriguing company with the ambition to bring up (salvage) gold bullion from the ocean from ships sunk and known to be laden with this valuable cargo during the two great world wars.
Britannia's gold, long before anyone at ABC got to hear about them, researched a mass of information that led them to the realisation that many of the big ships sunk during the two wars were carrying gold bullion and other precious cargo. They worked out which ships they were, how to find them, how to validate the cargoes carried (through eye witness reports on what was loaded) and, more importantly, how to get to those wrecks and cargoes.
From there it was all about raising the cash needed to get the people they needed with the expertise to pull off the biggest (legal) gold heist in history.
The first salvage operation, we learned, is potentially (subject to weather, salvage vessel availability and so on) as close as 3 months away from completion. They have found what they believe to be the valuable cargo in question, know exactly where it is with pinpoint accuracy and, now, only need to bring it to the surface. That almost happened already. They were so very close to bringing the gold to the surface a few weeks back.
But, the operation was unfortunately (or fortunately depending on whether you are already in or not) delayed because of unexpected dreadful weather (the highly dangerous type that comes with wave swells higher than hills and small mountains). Also harder than expected cutting operations and shifting wreck issues and, most recently, a prior commitment for the vessel most recently used.
The oil industry books these vessels months and years in advance for their own, very seasonal, operations so this caused yet further delays. You can't keep going if someone has nicked yer boat!
So a new vessel now needs to be sourced. And, fortunately, one that may be ideal is currently being examined in South Africa with a view to this being the one they need to carry out the final stage of salvage. The weather for a while now should be just what is required to continue and also explains why, at this time of year, demand for these very specialist ships needed to carry out the salvage is so high.
I said unfortunately or fortunately depending on whether you are in or not. This delay means that you can still get in on the Britannia's Gold opportunity. There is still time now to get a share of an estimated haul from this one vessel alone that could have been carrying as much as $960 million of gold bullion. Once the cargo from the wreckage is salvaged, that will be that. There will be no more allocations of free shares in the BG operation.
Here's the thing though. If you do get in (are in already) and you acquire free allocations of Britannia Gold Shares, then you will continue to benefit from payouts from every other gold laden wreck they recover. The first successfully salvaged wreck will, of course, also give them all the funding they need to then do others. This operation could continue to bring in the gold for years to come.
We were privy to over an hour of updates from Phillip Reid (Chairman) and Will Carrier (Chief Operations Officer) including a detailed explanation of where, exactly, the salvage operation had progressed to. It was exciting and encouraging information but also a very, down to earth, honest appraisal from Phillip Reid of the ongoing costs of the operation and the commitment to it in the interests of all the members. This is one hellishly expensive operation to pull off.
Because of this, because of the advantage with data and expertise that BG have, there cannot be any conceivable competition for this reward. It would take another outfit years to get to the same point that BG have got to. There were a lot of questions directed at Will Carrier about this. The fear behind the questions, of course, being that after all this hard work what if another outfit just jumped in at the end to get the goodies and it was reassuring to know that it would be impossible for anyone to do so.
Will Carrier had even gone as far as to put out false information on recent news articles and bulletins about the depth of the wreck to put off would be opportunist divers.
Everything pointed towards the actual strike (getting the gold) happening within the next two to three 30 day on site time periods. Taking every likely aspect into account (getting the new ship on site etc) means that 3 such 30 day periods could be involved now until the word is given that the gold has been salvaged (for example if they do not get the vessel they are after and need to source another). But of course we were also reminded by Phillip Reid that this is a speculative operation.
These salvage vessels are very specialised and are booked through the summer period long in advance by (predominantly) the oil and gas industry. It was originally hoped that the BG operation would be done and dusted by now as far as this first wreck is concerned and that is why they had to say goodbye to the vessel that they were using.
it would have been easy for them to give up at this stage owing to the cost alone but, fortunately, Will Carrier knows his stuff and seemed pretty confident that the final stage would be underway again soon. This operation is in very good hands.
This one thing alone is reason to get involved in ABC but, as you will see and hear from our video, there are many other reasons why. I am going to maximise my monthly input into ABC while the BG operation is still open. I may or may not lower it again after, but I have very good reasons for keeping it right up there even after that.
As a taster there is a drinks company outselling Schweppes in their chosen sector. A fire safety company with revolutionary breakthrough technology. A state of the art mobile payment system that has Mastercard and all the big banks crying out for their tech.
A specialist dog food company taking the North American market (which is multi-billions of dollars in size) by storm that even has hollywood celebrity dog owners queing up to get some. A theme park ride system that already has guaranteed orders for their tech that opens up a trillion dollar marketplace. A company that could be described as the next Google for the smaller local business. The list goes on and on.
I am 100% now adding this to my hot opportunity list. I am looking forward to a fabulous ride with Angel Business Club and I highly recommend that you get involved as soon as you can. if you have joined but have yet to subscribe or were subscribing and stopped your subscription, now is the time to get active.
Remember you can pause, stop and start your subscription. Use it, accordingly as a very real and solid savings plan for future wealth and, providing you understand that in start ups there are no guarantees, this could be the best way there is of putting spare money to work.
Joining
If you want to join Angel Business Club, use the link below. You can come in at first as a free member if you wish and then just have a look around. But if you want to get straight in with a secured share of all the benefits that can come from monthly membership, you can do this from £80 per month. You will not regret a penny of your input.
Needless to say, the bigger share of membership you take, the more benefit you will receive from successful companies and operations.
John
