One of the best ways of knowing what something is, is to know what it is not. It is common knowledge that any good investment takes time to mature, and knowing what to avoid when picking what to invest in is one way to be successful in that venture.
In this article, I plan to highlight and relate some important RED flags you have to avoid when making an investment decision in agribusiness in 2026.
The summary of this article is in two parts. The first three deal with your attitude to investment, while the last four deal with modalities you must pay attention to in your investment choice.
1. Don’t invest because of influence
Influence is actually the reason why most people do what they do in life. Your friend started a fish farm and he is cashing out millions in a month, so you now want to start one. While this is very good, I would advise you not to base your decision only on that influence. You will need to do your own research and know your onions about the business before you invest in it. Like Jesus said, and I paraphrase, no one begins a building without first counting the cost.
2. Don’t invest for a fast payout
Chinedu, your friend, has a fish farm that makes ₦2 million a month, and you hear that if you invest ₦500,000 you will be making ₦100,000 a month, and you just jump into it without any thought. You might end up losing that money—not because the business will fail—but because you have not studied it well enough to know that there are seasons to it and that you will not always have that ₦100,000 guaranteed monthly.
Normally, any good investment is not in the money it returns to you immediately, but in what it can do over a long period of time.
The reason why you might have a problem here is due to your impatience. A month will come when Chinedu can’t pay you your ₦100,000, maybe because of low sales. He explains to you, you don’t listen; you think he is about to scam you. You get the police to arrest him, and then you disturb the business by unsettling the manager. The business ends up having issues. Who do you think I will blame more? Well, you—because you had a choice in who you gave your money to, and due to your impatience or lack of understanding, you caused problems in the business.
3. Don’t invest with bills money
This should be common knowledge, but I felt the need to still add it here. Any money you are using to invest in any business should be money you have saved and can forgo if anything happens. Why is this important? Because, like every business, agribusiness has risks, and you don’t want to be stranded when you use your children’s school fees, house rent, or feeding money to invest in it and it ends up failing.
4. Don’t invest in the unknown
Now, my definition of “unknown” is a business that is not registered with the CAC and does not have at least five years of operation since it opened. Why five years for me? Any business that gets to five years in operation, in my opinion, knows what they are doing. Why? Because average businesses fail between two to three years after they start up. So, if a business can get to five years, it should have mastered the market and known how to operate in that sector with a bit of success. Although this is still not foolproof proof that they are not going to fail in the next year, but it is a good metric to look at before considering other things like …
5. Don’t invest in tax evaders
In 2026, with the new tax laws being implemented, there will be extra eyes on businesses that are eligible to pay tax but do not. My advice is that you check the records of the company and how well they have paid their taxes in the past two or three years. If you choose to ignore this, know that you will also be forfeiting your money if there is any punishment meted out to the business because they evaded tax.
6. Don’t invest without records
One very important part of a successful business is the act of keeping good records. Any business you identify for investment, and you notice they don’t keep records, or their records are not complete, or they do not add up—run far from that business. That’s all I have to say here.
7. Don’t invest without an agreement
Any agreement made is a binding contract that can be put up in your defence in a law court. This agreement protects both the investor and the business. An agreement basically means that if it eventually becomes a court case, there is a legally binding document that can be used to ensure that the party that breaches the contract is held accountable.
So let’s think and take action; investing in 2026 is something that needs to be done properly if you truly want to reduce your risk of failure. Both internal and external factors surrounding investments need to fall in line for a successful investment choice. The above red flags can’t be ignored, because if you do, you will definitely see RED in 2026.
Happy Investing!
Mr. Ebenezer Briki-Okolosi is an agripreneur, with interests in media relations, he writes from Asaba, Delta State
