03-07-2025
How Do I Buy A Business? A Guide For Business Buyers: Step 1 - A Thought Exercise
If you've always wanted to buy your own business, it might seem like a lofty task and you might not be sure where to start.
Here's how:
The first step is a thought exercise.
It might seem like a strange place to start, but you need to go into the process with clear ideas about what you need from owning a business. Just thinking “I’ve always wanted a tiki bar, so that’s what I’m going to search for” doesn’t answer any of the deep questions that will make your business purchase successful in the long run.
Why?
Owning a business is a life-encompassing affair. Your hours will be long and you’ll have to think about your business every day. Your schedule and the schedule of your family will be dictated, in part, by the hours of your business. You won’t just be doing the actual work the business does, but you will be responsible for ensuring the administrative and back-of-house requirements are completed as well. Think payroll, inventory, licensing and the like. The life of an entrepreneur isn’t easy, so you need to be in the right business for you if you're going to make it work.
What makes a business the right business for you? It meets the goals of the life you want to have.
Think about you and what your goals are for business ownership. What are you hoping to change about your life by becoming a business owner? Is it because you want to be your own boss? Is it because you want to have a job that's a passion? Is it because you want to have freedom over your own schedule? Is it because you'd like to make a certain amount of money every year?
If you answer these questions first, you will get a better picture of what you want your day-to-day life to look like not only the day you buy your business, but in the months and years that follow. Those answers are going to be pivotal for ensuring that you end up in not only the right business, but in a business that’s sustainable for you.
Another important factor you need to include in your initial thought exercise? What skill sets do you have from your education and from your practical experience?
Taking over a business comes with a steep learning curve. You don’t want to add learning a completely new industry to the mix. If you’ve never spent a single moment of your life working in a bar (or in the restaurant industry in general), buying a tiki bar on whim is going to be a colossal mistake. You really need to think about where your practical experience will help you. For instance, if you’ve never worked as a mechanic but you have spent every weekend and holiday of the past 15 years working on old motorcycles - then a motorcycle repair shop might work for you. The point here is you need to know a good deal about what you’re getting into if you want to be successful.
Stay tuned for Step 2!
Have you always dreamed of owning your own business and hadn’t considered the thought exercise above? Would you like to know the industries that would work for your practical experience? Ask us! Leave any questions or comments and we would be happy to help.
Michael Monnot
941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com