You Have to Spend Money to Make Money – Titus Maccius Plautus

the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus, was a poet and philosopher who lived from 254 BC to 184 BC. He is credit with saying the statement: You Have to Spend Money to Make Money. It is translated more accurately as: You must spend money to make money. Today, the phrase is a common saying all around the world, and in many languages, and quite possibly due to different origins that came to the same conclusion.

You Have to Spend Money to Make Money

– Titus Maccius Plautus

The statement means that it’s hard to make money in a business without investing some money in supplies, products, advertisement, and other business expenses. Taking calculated risks and investing in yourself or your business can lead to significant rewards and long-term success. However, it’s important to note that investing money doesn’t guarantee success, and careful planning and research should be done before making any significant financial decisions.

This statement might be the key to differentiate between real entrepreneurs and fake entrepreneurs of this era. These days everybody want to be labelled as entrepreneurs. The tiktok / instagram / youtube creator, the actor, the reality show celebrity, in their mind they are entrepreneurs. Yet for the majority of them, they do not even engage in the above cycle. When there is no such risk of failing, it is not real entrepreneurship. When it is monetising a fan base, it is not real entrepreneurship either, it’s opportunism.

Hence what Jay-Z says is on point: I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.