What should I know before I buy a business?
FSB walks an aspiring owner through the steps here, but let us know what we're missing. Just bought a business? Tell us your most frustrating moment in the purchase process.
I recommend putting together an acquisition team. An attorney, an accountant and a close friend or family member to keep you balanced. In essence you want to do due diligence and dig through financial records and intangibles (is there a declining market for this company) to ensure that a viable business exists.
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I bought an auto parts distributor last May. The most frustrating part was dealing with business brokers and sellers across the country in some of the deals. They all had different "rules" regarding information, how it was presented, what they would or would not provide and when. I am glad I stuck to it but what a terribly inefficient process…definitely not like buying real estate. One thing that really helped me was a manual I bought online for $100 called 'How to buy a good business at a great price' – from a company diomo.com – it simplified everything for me.