You found the perfect business to buy and not you want to put an offer to buy a business, what do you include in the offer?  Do you offer to buy the assets or the shares of the business?  What are the advantages of buying the assets of the business?  (more…)

You just bought a business but the quarters are cramped, there is not a lot of space and it is poorly laid out.  Papers are everywhere, there is no rational for organizing the office the way that it is, what do you do?  Did you buy the shares of the business or did you buy the assets of the business?  If you bought the shares of the business, you should look at the accounting records very quickly and determine if they are accurate, was anything left out, get an idea who were the suppliers, see if the goods are purchased at a reasonable price or (more…)

You are looking to buy a business and you are aware that a particular business has been for sale for a very long time – 1 year and it is still for sale.  Is it worth looking at, is it over priced?  What questions come to your mind, probably that there is a problem with the business, with the price and possibly the owner?  Is it worth looking further to see if this is salvageable?  Remember, all business are for sale for the right price.  The question will be, is the right price a fair price that makes sense to you? (more…)

Ever saw a business and thought, that would be a great one to buy?  But if the business is not for sale, how do you enquire to see if it is for sale?  Most businesses are for sale for the right price however there is the emotional aspect of selling a business which you started from scratch and many entrepreneurs can’t seem to let go.  They want their kids to run a portion of their empire or their employees or if they have the right people, the business may run itself and they are collecting payments from the business without being involved, effectively they have created an annuity.  If the owner sees this as an annuity, it may be difficult to get him to sell the business. (more…)

You have made a decision to sell your business but you have not determined the asking price of your business.  You have hired an accountant or business broker who determines what they believe to be the fair market value of your business.  You know that you never get the asking price of the business.  If you want to get as close as possible to the fair market value determined by the business broker, what should your asking price of the business be? (more…)

You have found a business for sale and want to make an offer.  What price should you offer?  Should you come in around the asking price, slightly lower or a lot lower?  Before making an offer, you have to go back to basics, why were you interested in this business.  Was it synergistic?  What attracted you to the business.  Is the price reasonable or is the price overstated? (more…)

A franchise is a business model which is duplicated over and over again. Presumably, the franchiser has debugged all the problems of operating a business and has found a formula which works efficiently, smoothly and is easy to implement and operate.  They try to make the system fool proof as long as you follow their system.  Buying a franchise does not (more…)

You still feel healthy but you want to continue the long term success of your company long after you have passed away.   You have children in the business and you want to pass your legacy to your kids, should you?  Too many parents believe that their kids will be as good if not better than they are at operating the business.  Some are, many are not.  Smart business (more…)

Ever wonder why a business is so cheap?  Ever bought something that you thought was under priced and you were getting a phenomenal deal – it was cheap for a reason.  This can range from buying an asset to buying a business.  A person decided to buy a helicopter from a bankrupt company.  Did all the due diligence himself, thought that were buying it for (more…)

You want to buy a business but are not sure which business to buy.  Ever wonder what businesses other people are looking for?  The most popular type of businesses that people ask about buying are those which they think are recession proof.  The most popular industry which I am asked about is the food industry.  Why?  In good and bad times, you always eat.  (more…)