After a couple phone conversations plus zoom meetings a (supposed) business buyer wrote me and made three points, which were:
- His concern over fees.
- Uncertainty about how those fees and his time commitment will turn out.
- Pulling the trigger.
I wrote back a one sentence reply, which was:
When you have an answer to your third point everything else will fall into place whether that answer is yes or no.
Going into business for yourself is risky and takes guts. It doesn’t matter if you are starting a business, buying a franchise opportunity, or buying an existing company. Or, as we like to say by an immature, profitable, and fairly priced business.
Leaving your job for a new opportunity is also risky, even in today’s employee friendly job market. You never know how it’s going to turn out once you are on the inside.
So this business buyer who is concerned about whether he will be able to “pull the trigger” really has more serious issues to deal with than finding a good company to buy. He will come across as an unsure and defensive buyer, wanting a perfect business, a perfect deal, and we all know there is no such thing as perfection. Business owners and intermediaries will smell this unsureness (like I smell it) and be very cautious about dealing with him.
As we head into the last month of the year it’s a time for many people to reflect on where they are and what they want to do. Whatever the decision, part of the decision-making process must be, will I pull the trigger on whatever I say I want to do?
As with my prospective business buyer client, once you answer this question everything else will fall into place.
“After repute, oblivion” (Roman Emperor) Marcus Aurelius
“Familiarity breeds contempt – and children.” Mark Twain
