Want to find the perfect business for you? Sorry it does not exist. No matter how hard you look, or where you search, you will not find the perfect business for you. Whatever you look at, and whatever business you consider there will always be something that is not “just right”. Remove any thoughts of finding the perfect business, as the search will be futile. What you are really looking for is something close to perfect. A business that you can live with. You will need to compromise somewhere, and once you comprehend this fact, you will be liberated from the paralysis that afflicts many business buyers.
Because the perfect business does not exist it is often tempting to look at starting a business from “scratch”. There are many benefits in this approach. No goodwill. No compromise. A fresh new start. And more. There are also many challenges with the start-up approach, for whilst it seems like a simple process to start a business, it is actually far more complex, and risky, than buying an existing business. Have you ever heard that statement that “most small business fails in the first three years”?
What they are referring to is new start-up businesses, not existing businesses. An existing business has a historical track record, it has all the administrative infrastructure in place, the systems, the clients, the suppliers, existing advertising, phone numbers, known location, staff, processes, and more. All these things are in place to allow you to focus entirely on running the business, and growing the business. You have a platform from which to build on. In a start-up, you have to create the platform. When you start a new business from scratch, you add a competitor to the market. This creates more competition for the same client base, and eventually makes each competitor’s share a little smaller. Acquiring an existing business to build upon does not have the same effect. For these reasons it is suggested that an existing business is usually going to be a safer, more successful option.
