Five Things to Consider when Buying a Business

After recently buying into my 12th company, I was reminded of these five basic things to keep in mind when buying a business. The first one is something you should NEVER do and the 5th one is something you should ALWAYS do.

ALWAYS…Start with the end in mind. The day you open/ start/ buy your business is the day you should know when you will be ready to exit.  Figure out what your business will look like when it’s done or when you’re done with it. I figured out this is where I went wrong in one of my first businesses. I was getting into businesses without a clue about how and where I would get out of them.  And hardly anybody thinks about their exit strategy upon entry.

NEVER…Fall in love with an asset.  I learned that you need to work out how much is enough to make when you exit the business and never fall in love with an asset.

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