One of the most important decisions that you will make as a business owner is whether to buy an existing business or start from scratch.
Starting a business is hard. There are so many firsts to encounter, and it can be really tough to get started.
There are a number of questions you may be asking yourself. Should you invest your time in learning about running a successful company, or should you dive right into entrepreneurship? Should you take the risk and start something new, or should you enter into an already-successful venture? This decision can be difficult because both paths have pros and cons. According to llcguys.com – the company incorporation itself can be rather easy if you use a professional company to form (an LLC for example) for you.
In this post we will explore the pros and cons of starting your own business vs. buying an existing business, and hopefully help answer these important questions for you.
The benefits of buying a business
When you are looking to buy a business you will start your search online with websites such as Bsale, which will showcase thousands of businesses that are currently for sale.
When looking for opportunities, one of the first things to think about is if your skillset aligns well with what the company does. If so, this can be an excellent opportunity for both parties and allow them to help each other grow.
When you purchase a business, you get all of its assets: inventory, any patents or trademarks it may have created, customer lists – anything they’ve worked hard for will now belong to you! Businesses also already have established relationships in place which means more potential customers than someone who starts from scratch would ever create when starting their own company from scratch.
There’s no need to worry about marketing because these relationships were built long ago by previous owners; however make sure that you’re not fixating on the company’s previous success to predict your own. The business might have fallen into a rut and could be stagnated without any new ideas or energy put in by its current owner.
When buying an existing business, there are many challenges which is why it may seem smarter to start from scratch – but those same challenges will also make for excellent obstacles when starting your own company! You’ll still need customer relationships (which can be achieved through partnerships) as well as marketing strategies of course; however these problems will come later rather than sooner if you buy an established company with some work already done.
Why you should think twice before starting a Business from Scratch
A lot of people like to start their own business from scratch. They think it’s a great idea because they have more control over the company and can do whatever they want with it.
This is a bad idea. There are many reasons why you should think twice before diving into starting your own business from scratch, including:
- You don’t know how to run the company now, and after you buy it there will be even more things that come with running a business
- It could take years for your new venture to get going because of all the legal fees associated with buying an established company
- Starting up costs are much higher than they would be if you bought out another company so there can also be financial implications in purchasing an established business
These are just a few reasons why starting your own business from scratch can be a bad idea.
You may not know much about running an established company and if you buy it, there will be more things you need to do. It could also take years for the new venture to get going because of all this legal stuff that needs doing. Starting up costs are higher so there is another financial implication in purchasing an established business too.
Things to consider when buying a business
You will have to take into account such things as: the business’s value, competition from other businesses in your industry, and whether you are buying a good or bad credit history.
You should also consider if the business you are about to buy has a strong customer base. A good credit history is important because it can help build your reputation as an investor and entrepreneur, while bad credit history will reflect poorly on both your name and that of the company.
You should also consider what the business’ financial status is. A healthy balance sheet indicates there are plenty of assets to cover off any liabilities, which means you can be confident about your investment and that it will grow in value over time.
The following things should always be considered before buying a company:
(i) Should I buy a good or bad credit history?
(ii) Should I buy from an established firm with a strong customer base or start fresh?
and (iii) Should I invest my money into something with potential for growth in value instead of taking on greater risk by using borrowed capital?
Conclusion
There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding whether or not you should buy an existing business.
For some, it will be the best option because they’ve either exhausted other ideas and don’t have time for more research, don’t want to go through all the trouble of starting from scratch (or just prefer someone else has already done that), or think their own product would do better with your company’s brand and marketing than on its own.
Other people may find this approach more expensive in one way or another – perhaps due to financing costs associated with purchasing debt-heavy companies, how much capital is needed upfront versus investing over time as an entrepreneur building something new at a slower pace but optimizing every dollar spent, having less control over where the company is headed, or forgoing the ability to reap rewards from personal interests in your leisure time.