Making an investment or starting a business entails a certain amount of risk. Often, people seek to reduce this risk by employing the advice of others. Sometimes people will use the advice of professionals, well other times they will prefer the advice of friends or family who may no know anything about business or finance.

Who you seek advice from probably has a lot to do with the type of investment. If you want to start a business as a commercial flower grower, you'll need a lot more than just some growers supplies. You will need to seek the advice of experts who can help you evaluate the market, decide what to produce, and arrange for a distribution network. This can be complicated, and although friends and family may have good intentions, they may not know enough about the industry.

If you decide to start an online printing service, you may want to ask friends and family for their opinion, but when it comes time to make decisions about your business, you can probably benefit from professional advice from someone who knows about internet-based businesses and can help you to set up your information technology system efficiently.

When it comes to real estate, friends and family are often quick to offer their opinions. If you are planning to make a land purchase in Durham, for example, and you have an uncle who lives there, he will probably have advice about your Durham investment. Real estate is very complicated though, and even if your uncle lives in the area, he may not actually know the market values and growth potential for properties, so it is probably best to seek the advice of a real estate agent.

There are instances where you will want to consult family, however. For instance, if you are planning to start your own business as a mechanic, and your brother in law is a mechanic, he may have very sound advice for you. This advice may be mechanical, like ways to fix a problem with cable ties, or financial,like whether or not to incorporate your business, and where you can get liability insurance. You will probably want to get the advice of professionals as well, but know that, in some cases, family members can have excellent advice.

There are times when you will, of course, simply want to rely on your friends and family for support.