The Investors’ Guide to Buying a business

 When it comes to buying an established business, there’s a lot to consider. For starters, you’ll need to do some serious research before making your final decision. However, get it right and buying a business can be a game changing opportunity. To help, we’ve gathered our expert tips, so you can enter the process as informed as possible.

Advantages of buying a successful business

Buying an established business will more than likely give you a market for the product or service that you’re offering. After all, building a client or customer database can be tough when starting out, so by having it already available you can save a lot of time.

Pro tip: Bear in mind that there may be some loyal clients and customers in the database. And if there are? It’s important to identify, acknowledge them and ensure they remain loyal, despite the change of management.

Starting a business takes a lot of time and problem solving. By buying a business, you’re more than likely to miss out on the initial problems and save yourself the time it takes to build something from scratch. Learn from mistakes, ask the difficult questions and allow history to inform the future you create.

Disadvantages of buying an established business

Buying a business can have its disadvantages especially if you’ve not done intensive research on what you’re investing in. You may have ideas about the direction you want to take the company in, but without understanding how the company has previously run and what works, you could be headed for disaster.

Be sure to understand the company’s strategic goals and customer/client base before making any major changes to the business. Buying an existing business can also be more expensive, it will more than likely require a larger investment to begin with, and money to keep the company running successfully. Another factor to consider is the legalities that go with buying a business.

Pro tip: To save yourself more problems and money down the line, ensure that you are fully compliant with all business laws. The cost of a lawyer in this instance is an investment worth making and will be sure to save you money down the line.

Other things to consider when acquiring a business

Once you’ve weighed up the pros and cons of buying a business and made your final decision, there are a few other things you should take into consideration. Think about what’s important to you, your motivations and what you ultimately want to achieve with the business. How likely are you to achieve what you want to achieve? How much money will you need to invest once purchasing the business?

When buying a business, it’s useful to consider the location of the business you’re purchasing. Restricting yourself to your local area may not necessarily be the best option and often businesses can be easily relocated. Build, measure, learn and you can’t go wrong.

If you’ve just purchased a business and are looking to relocate, LABS has the space you’re after. Contact [email protected] today to book a tour and find out more.

Resources for those interested in buying a business

– 10 tips to consider before buying a business

– Ultimate guide to buying a business in the UK

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