Trading is a high risk activity which requires a lot of know how and experience to have any chance of success in the field. This makes it the more dangerous for newbies and I don't exclude that to beginners on the forum but in trading as a fied.
Your met with those that could be said to have been well experience in the field having had a lot of layers on there skin and they can use this.

Investing in a business or even in a project, it doesn't requires a lot of skill but, just some knowledge of how the business environment works and it becomes a matter of the growth level you can attain within a period. Its something you can definitely build on slowly until you attain fast growths.

Having to pick between them both for me would be one with minimal risk and that would be investing in this case.