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Money goes out first to pay expenses and then comes back as profits later - if at all. The high rate of failure of new businesses makes painfully clear that there is nothing inevitable about the money coming back.
Thomas Sowell
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Interpretation

What this quote means

New businesses often experience high failure rates, and profits are not guaranteed after spending money on expenses.

This quote by Thomas Sowell highlights the financial realities of starting and running a new business. It emphasizes that initial expenditures are typically necessary for business operations, but there is no certainty that the money will return as profit, illustrating the risks involved in entrepreneurship and the harsh truth that many new ventures do not succeed.

Themes

BusinessEntrepreneurshipProfitsFailureExpenses

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used during a business seminar to highlight the financial risks of startups.

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Why is history important? Without history, many people have no idea how many of today's half-baked ideas have been tried, again and again - and have repeatedly led to disaster. Most of these ideas are not new. They are just being recycled with re-treaded rhetoric.
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