In any lecture or interview about investing, Warren Buffett often says that you should buy great businesses at fair prices. The idea being that as long as you purchase a great business at a reasonable price, the firm will generate higher earnings in the future than it does now, increasing potential future dividends while using retained earnings to increase the asset base and further improve earnings.

In my last post, I discussed the basics of what gives companies competitive advantage and what makes good businesses. In this post, I want to move from the analysis of a business towards the analysis of an investment. The difference between the two? The price one pays to become an owner of the business.