The following picture is in my book If They Can Sell Pet Rocks Why Can’t You Sell Your Business (For What You Want)? It shows how after awhile someone’s business can become a prison (and they need to plan so they can exit with style, grace, and more money).
This next picture, or one like it, should be in my book Buying A Business That Makes You Rich next to the above picture.* Why? Because these buildings are also prisons. They trap the people who commute daily and then do the same old same old thing every day for decades.
Some of these people should be taking the initiative and getting control of their life. This means make the leap of faith and become a business owner. And buying a business is the best way to do this, and the easiest to finance.
We’re living in an interesting time (although all times are interesting in one way or another). As in my article, ” Making a Splash,” there’s a plethora of businesses hitting the market as the baby boomer generation is large, entrepreneurial, and aging. And many of these are profitable companies (and of course many aren’t and some have the proverbial lipstick on a pig).
For someone stuck in their urban or suburban jungle what more could they ask for but a solid supply of businesses, an active market, and low interest rates?
So what does it take to be a qualified buyer, in addition to the willingness to make the leap of faith?
- Management skills so you can manage people, processes, money, and systems.
- Enough capital to make your down payment (in today’s market, for an individual or small business owner, it’s 10-15% of the price and/or about 2-3 times the salary the buyer is used to receiving.
- A good personality, so you can relate to the seller and his or her employees, customers, etc.
“What to know what God thinks of money? Look at the people he gave it to.” Dorothy Parker
