As an entrepreneur, you will do everything to ensure the superior quality of your product or service offerings. Additionally, you put in your best to motivate your team and meet the revenue-related targets.

You must practice the same diligence when it comes to saving and investing money. Here are three reasons to make saving and investing a regular practice:

1. Healthy for your business

Investing helps you to understand the nuances of returns and tax implications. These insights help you make better business decisions, maximizing returns in the long-term.

1. Planning for an emergency

When you regularly save and invest, it helps to build an emergency nest. Additionally, equity is expensive and with disciplined savings and investments, you can hold onto the equity in your business or start another venture.

1. Peace of mind

As you bootstrap, you are also building an investment portfolio irrespective of the size of investment. In the future, you need not opt for loans or funding, as you would have built wealth in the long-term.

When you scout for various investment options, you come across many financial and non-financial products. Financial instruments include market-linked investments like equities or mutual funds and fixed income securities like fixed deposits(FDs) or pension schemes. Gold and real estate are examples of non-financial instruments.Depending on your investment horizon and risk-taking ability, you can consider investing in:

1. Market-linked investments

Returns on these investments are subject to market and price fluctuations and pose higher risks. Some instruments include:

• Direct equities

You may invest directly in shares through stock markets. However, it is difficult to choose the right stocks that deliver high returns. Moreover, there is no guarantee that you will get the expected returns on investment.Also, you may not have the appetite for higher risks.

• Mutual funds (MFs)

MF houses offer various types of schemes, such as equity MFs, debt funds, and balanced MFs. Equity funds primarily invest in stocks while debt funds invest in fixed income securities. Balanced funds invest in both types of instruments. Professional fund managers handle these instruments and help to mitigate investment risks.

1. Fixed income securities

These types of investments deliver lower but assured returns. Some products include:

• Fixed deposits

You may choose between bank deposits or corporate deposits. Private and public sector banks offer the former while non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) like Mahindra Finance provide you with the opportunity to invest in the latter. Both these types of FDs have a fixed rate of interest and come with a pre-specified maturity date. Generally, the fixed deposit interest rate for banks is lower than corporate FD rates. Additionally, credit rating agencies rate corporate FDs while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) insuresbank deposits for up to INR 5 lakh. Before investing in these products, check the fixed deposit eligibilitycriteria.

• Pension schemes

These include Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Pension Scheme (NPS). PPF investments are for 15 years and offer a fixed rate of interest, which is reviewed quarterly. NPS is a retirement planning product and invests in bonds, equities, government securities, and other instruments. The returns depend on the investment combination that you select.

1. Non-financial products

• Real estate

You should not consider your home as an investment. Any other property, which you own but do not live in, is an investment. The location of such properties is important because returns accrue through rentals and capital appreciation; however, principal requirement is high and such an investment is not very liquid.

• Gold

This metal has been a popular investment instrument. In addition to jewelry and coins, you may invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and sovereign bonds.

You need to consider factors like available principal, risk appetite, and financial goals to ensure that you make accurate investment decisions and earn desired returns.