The only good way to start mining is invest 10.000$ - 15.000$ minimum.
The amount you invest should not matter. If investing $2000 is not a good investment, how is investing $10,000 make that investment any better?
The risk is the same, regardless how much you invest.
IN your eyes, with the exception of just buying BTC, what is a good investment otherwise? I could have sworn that I read somewhere that the typical ROI is considered good if it can exceed 20% per annum.
Gold is near production costs, but it is not an investment. More like a storage of value.
Look at utilities stocks, some can pay 5%. Private mortgages can pay 5-7%, depending on the risk.
Mining hardware is not a good investment for two reasons (among others):
1. Extremely fast depreciation in assets and profit
2. Market is filled with uninformed participants who bid up h/w prices to astronomical levels
Buying hardware today is like buying tech stocks first week of March 2000.
Buying BTC directly is risky, but it is probably less risky then buying mining hardware. You are buying a limited resource that (hopefully) will not depreciate 20-30% every two weeks.
Versus buying mining hardware that is virtually unlimited resource that depreciates 20%+ every two weeks.
EDIT: ask HF BabyJet customers how they feel about spending 50-60 BTCs for each HF box.