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Thinking About Buying a Business?  A Few Things to Consider…

PASSION.  Business owners that love what they do often have found a way to use their passion to fill an existing need through their business.  Regardless of the industry, if you are passionate about the product or service you sell and pragmatic about its role in the marketplace you will get more enjoyment / value from your business.

SKILLS.  If you locate a business to buy, it’s important to determine the skills it takes to operate it.  For the passion to be fulfilled, the business has to first survive and second to be successful. For any business acquisition it’s critical to assess your personal strengths, identify the role you want to have in the business, and whether that use of your time is what the business requires.  If other skills are required, they have to be found in other employees – does the business have them?

TRENDS & CYCLES.  To give your business the greatest chance of success, it is also wise to consider current trends and business cycles when acquiring a business. Manufacturing changes due to automation, things like tariffs, the difficulty of finding employees, and other factors.  Distribution of products is changing – more buyers are ordering on the internet and often direct from manufacturers, eliminating middleman.  Many products are replaced by less expensive, better performing ones.  Many retail stores are under pressure – as I write this Sears has just filed bankruptcy, another indication of the difficulty in owning a retail business.  Should the unknown or uncertainty of trends and cycles keep you from buying a business?  No, but they are factors to consider.

A FEW EXAMPLES

  1. We worked with a buyer that surprising (to me anyway) found a cabinet shop to purchase.  Why?  He had a basement full of wood working equipment and loved to make things.  He loved the business, it was successful, and he loved it.
  2. An outplaced executive needed Income.  The only business he found that he could afford provided a type of training to individuals.  He acquired it, operated is successfully, eventually sold it.  HE NEVER REALLY LIKED THE BUSINESS; he owned it because he needed the Income for his family and was willing to sacrifice liking it for practical reasons.
  3. A buyer looked at a few businesses we had for sale, wasn’t interested.  A few weeks later I contacted him and asked what he was doing.  He said he bought a bar – had always wanted to own one.  Good for him!
  4. A professional athlete, with strong faith, bought a farm and raised cattle with organic feed.  His goal – the best quality products AND he gave back what he could to less fortunate people that needed assistance.  The passion was to help people; the mechanism was farming – he is loving it.

If you’re interested in selling or buying a business in the near future, the professionals at Zoellner Garten & Company will guide you to a successful sale or acquisition. Since the company was founded in 1988, they have helped numerous buyers and sellers throughout Southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, across the United States to accomplish their dream of running a company. Call (513) 852-2400 to speak with an advisor or visit them online.

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