Buying a business and succeeding?

[ygtrhos]

Hey everyone,

I would love to know if anyone has bought a business and had success with it. ("4-10-100x"ed the business for example)

I have been seeing this as a recommendation on this forum and other places. But I would love to hear the nit-bits of it. The stories.

The difficulties, why people do it, why did you choose that business, can you do it cashless etc.

Just the facts. No mindset talk or subjective opinions (except people who have really done it).

Looking forward to read the posts! Thanks in advance.

 

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[chazwazzer]

I recently ran across someone looking to sell their business due to their desire to retire. Very curious on how this works with fastlane since the book mentions many times that there are no shortcuts. It seems buying a business is a huge shortcut because you basically have customers on day 1 with a proven business model. Sure there is no guarantee it continues to succeed under new ownership but given the right circumstances it seems like a major hack.

What niche are you looking to buy a business in?

 

[ygtrhos]

Currently thinking with a pal of mine about buying a website. We want to leverage the traffic there to sell leads to local businesses. But that is not really what I was asking for.

I am quite flexible, but I do not want to "buy a job". No service businesses (hairdresser, beauty, engineering services etc.)

I knew a guy that made wooden planks for construction. A boomer with no internet marketing skills. That might have been something for example.

Could be digital as well, such as an e-commerce brand.

As long as it is based on a scalable "unit", I am open to it.

 

[fastlane_dad]

Currently thinking with a pal of mine about buying a website. We want to leverage the traffic there to sell leads to local businesses. But that is not really what I was asking for.

I am quite flexible, but I do not want to "buy a job". No service businesses (hairdresser, beauty, engineering services etc.)

I knew a guy that made wooden planks for construction. A boomer with no internet marketing skills. That might have been something for example.

Could be digital as well, such as an e-commerce brand.

As long as it is based on a scalable "unit", I am open to it.

What's your budget ? Where are you located? And do you have any experience with running or growing a business currently?

@NeoDialectic and I recently SOLD an 8 figure business, but have yet to buy and grow one (something of interest to us both as well).

Keep this thread updated with your thoughts and progress if you go this route.

 

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[ygtrhos]

What's your budget ? Where are you located? And do you have any experience with running or growing a business currently?

@NeoDialectic and I recently SOLD an 8 figure business, but have yet to buy and grow one (something of interest to us both as well).

Keep this thread updated with your thoughts and progress if you go this route.

Thanks for your answer. I appreciate your attention as an experienced entrepreneur.

My mistake that I have not included these details.

I am in Europe, specifically Germany but quite mobile. I have around 25-30k that I can put into this. I guess that would make me buy maybe a 80 to 150k worth business with financing from seller (me paying it in 1-2 years from future profit).

I tried to bootstrap 2-3 times without any significant success. So not, I do not have that sort of experience.

My line of thought is that, if I have a proven business model and a decent number of satisfied customers already with a traditional business, and a learning period of 3-12 months from the old owner, I can implement online marketing, networking and a bit of hustle to scale it to a 7 digit business in 3-4 years. I am only 33, no wife, no kids, got tons of capacity to learn & implement that.

@fastlane_dad do you think I am thinking too generic & unrealistic? Or maybe I have the "ignorant courage"? Or on the other hand, am I thinking too small?

 

[fastlane_dad]

Thanks for your answer. I appreciate your attention as an experienced entrepreneur.

My mistake that I have not included these details.

I am in Europe, specifically Germany but quite mobile. I have around 25-30k that I can put into this. I guess that would make me buy maybe a 80 to 150k worth business with financing from seller (me paying it in 1-2 years from future profit).

I tried to bootstrap 2-3 times without any significant success. So not, I do not have that sort of experience.

My line of thought is that, if I have a proven business model and a decent number of satisfied customers already with a traditional business, and a learning period of 3-12 months from the old owner, I can implement online marketing, networking and a bit of hustle to scale it to a 7 digit business in 3-4 years. I am only 33, no wife, no kids, got tons of capacity to learn & implement that.

@fastlane_dad do you think I am thinking too generic & unrealistic? Or maybe I have the "ignorant courage"? Or on the other hand, am I thinking too small?

All good lines of thought. Be careful on the financing slide - because what if the business 'slides' in revenue / profits ? What if you are unable to sustain it from where it's at already? We all want to be optimistic, and believe things will only grow from there - but many times it is a 'challenge in its own' just to keep the revenue steady (with rising advertising cost, more competitors, etc). Just a fair warning.

Additionally - look for something you can enter where you can add value in someway. What do you think you will be able to do, that the previous owner overlooked? There is no free lunch - and all 'easy' solutions I'm sure were thought of many times and tapped out.

Think about also something that interests you, or you would benefit from learning and expanding. What is your background, and in what ways can you add value to that business.

Yes - I do think you can get a 'leg up' and learn tons in the process, at a faster rate buying into an existing business, that already produces cash flow, revenue and profit - BUT also know that many times there is a reason that the seller is selling , and you need to audit and evaluate the business and cash flow month over month very carefully.

We are looking at online businesses', with little to no inventory (think digital products, e-books, etc) for several reasons - some e-com would be a possibility as well but it has to be setup right, and we'd had to know we can add value to the business in some ways, and be in a field that we are more or less more passionate about.

 

[addV]

What is crossing my mind is also buying to accelerate learning. For example, I have got experience building and scaling a services company, but I don't have any in manufacturing products, or e commerce. I could buy a small company that manufactures products, learn how it's done and scale from there. The risk is that it may be an expensive lesson...

 

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