Where to Find the Perfect Business to Buy
Where to Find the Perfect Business to Buy
Instead, you want to find an existing business or a proven business idea that you can operate successfully. But the million dollar question is: “Where do you find it?”
There are several methods of finding a business to buy, and each has its own benefits. Here are some options to consider.
Word of Mouth
This method of finding the perfect business to buy is very much chance-based and consists of someone telling you about, or you driving around and seeing, a business that is for sale. Due to its nature, you are exposed to a very limited number of businesses. And unless you are very lucky that one of the few discovered in this fashion is exactly what you want, this method is not very effective at finding the perfect business to buy.
Classified ads in the local newspaper
The old-fashioned method of finding a business to buy is to look in the classified ads in the local newspaper and see if any catch your eye. This is a very difficult way to find a business to buy for several reasons. One, the number of businesses-for-sale listed in the classifieds is very small compared to the overall universe of businesses that are for sale at any time. Two, classified ads typically present you with only three lines of cryptic text to give you background on the business. And three, classifieds do not have a search function so you have to spend a lot of time looking through all of the classifieds to find those businesses that interest you. While classifieds can serve a purpose in buying a business, they are not very efficient or effective.
Business Brokers
Business brokers are typically very professional and knowledgeable in the art of buying and selling a business. Plus they are skilled at helping sellers sell their business. But therein lies the rub – they are contractually obligated to help the seller sell the business. They are not obligated to you as the buyer. Therefore, brokers will usually look out for the seller’s best interests first, which means they will often only show you businesses that they represent. This severely limits your exposure to the number of businesses that are available for sale at any one time, which makes it an inefficient method of finding the perfect business to buy.
However, more common these days are Buyer Brokers. These business brokers represent you, the buyer, in your efforts to buy a business. This can be very effective because the broker knows how to navigate the process of buying a business. However, you often have to personally pay the broker to help you buy a business, which increases your costs. Therefore, it is often best to conduct a search for a business on your own, and then hire an attorney or experienced broker to guide you through the purchase process. But where do you search for businesses on your own?
Online marketplaces
Online marketplaces typically contain an exhaustive list of businesses that are for sale. Plus, it is easy to search these thousands of businesses instantly to find only the ones that meet your criteria. This makes online marketplaces the most effective, efficient and comprehensive method of finding the perfect business to buy.
There are many online marketplaces to choose from, but they are far from equal. Some have inadequate search functions, others are just interested in collecting listing fees from business sellers, and others do not offer the buyer tools to help make your search process easier. As a result, selecting a good business-for-sale marketplace is critical in your search for finding the perfect business to buy.
You want a site that allows you to search its listings for free, and has a strong search function to help you do it effectively. In addition, you want a site that allows you to save your searches and be alerted via email (“Email Alerts”) anytime new businesses are listed that meet your search criteria. This saves you the time and effort of continuously searching sites everyday looking for the right business. Instead, the site does the work for you and presents you with businesses that are of interest to you.
Finally, you want a site that puts its money where its mouth is, one that charges sellers based on performance and not on a pre-set monthly fee. These sites are dedicated to helping match business buyers with sellers while lowering the cost of selling a business. As a result, these sites are very effective for both buyers and sellers.
Summary
Owning a business is the American dream. But finding the perfect business to buy doesn't have to be a nightmare. Utilize the options detailed above and you will soon be in business for yourself.
Where to Find the Perfect Business to Buy - To learn more about this author, visit Tom Parsley's Website.
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You dream of owning a business and experiencing its many benefits – freedom, power, wealth, and fulfillment. But you don’t want to start a business on your own. There’s too much risk and uncertainty. Plus, you don’t know what you would want to do that could be successful.
Instead, you want to find an existing business or a proven business idea that you can operate successfully. But the million dollar question is: “Where do you find it?”
There are several methods of finding a business to buy, and each has its own benefits. Here are some options to consider.
Word of Mouth
This method of finding the perfect business to buy is very much chance-based and consists of someone telling you about, or you driving around and seeing, a business that is for sale. Due to its nature, you are exposed to a very limited number of businesses. And unless you are very lucky that one of the few discovered in this fashion is exactly what you want, this method is not very effective at finding the perfect business to buy.
Classified ads in the local newspaper
The old-fashioned method of finding a business to buy is to look in the classified ads in the local newspaper and see if any catch your eye. This is a very difficult way to find a business to buy for several reasons. One, the number of businesses-for-sale listed in the classifieds is very small compared to the overall universe of businesses that are for sale at any time. Two, classified ads typically present you with only three lines of cryptic text to give you background on the business. And three, classifieds do not have a search function so you have to spend a lot of time looking through all of the classifieds to find those businesses that interest you. While classifieds can serve a purpose in buying a business, they are not very efficient or effective.
Business Brokers
Business brokers are typically very professional and knowledgeable in the art of buying and selling a business. Plus they are skilled at helping sellers sell their business. But therein lies the rub – they are contractually obligated to help the seller sell the business. They are not obligated to you as the buyer. Therefore, brokers will usually look out for the seller’s best interests first, which means they will often only show you businesses that they represent. This severely limits your exposure to the number of businesses that are available for sale at any one time, which makes it an inefficient method of finding the perfect business to buy.
However, more common these days are Buyer Brokers. These business brokers represent you, the buyer, in your efforts to buy a business. This can be very effective because the broker knows how to navigate the process of buying a business. However, you often have to personally pay the broker to help you buy a business, which increases your costs. Therefore, it is often best to conduct a search for a business on your own, and then hire an attorney or experienced broker to guide you through the purchase process. But where do you search for businesses on your own?
Online marketplaces
Online marketplaces typically contain an exhaustive list of businesses that are for sale. Plus, it is easy to search these thousands of businesses instantly to find only the ones that meet your criteria. This makes online marketplaces the most effective, efficient and comprehensive method of finding the perfect business to buy.
There are many online marketplaces to choose from, but they are far from equal. Some have inadequate search functions, others are just interested in collecting listing fees from business sellers, and others do not offer the buyer tools to help make your search process easier. As a result, selecting a good business-for-sale marketplace is critical in your search for finding the perfect business to buy.
You want a site that allows you to search its listings for free, and has a strong search function to help you do it effectively. In addition, you want a site that allows you to save your searches and be alerted via email (“Email Alerts”) anytime new businesses are listed that meet your search criteria. This saves you the time and effort of continuously searching sites everyday looking for the right business. Instead, the site does the work for you and presents you with businesses that are of interest to you.
Finally, you want a site that puts its money where its mouth is, one that charges sellers based on performance and not on a pre-set monthly fee. These sites are dedicated to helping match business buyers with sellers while lowering the cost of selling a business. As a result, these sites are very effective for both buyers and sellers.
Summary
Owning a business is the American dream. But finding the perfect business to buy doesn't have to be a nightmare. Utilize the options detailed above and you will soon be in business for yourself.
Where to Find the Perfect Business to Buy - To learn more about this author, visit Tom Parsley's Website.
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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