Starting a business always involves a lot of hard work. While launching a startup is the only viable option for someone’s business vision, it’s always wise to look out for existing businesses that may up for sale.
Why would you want to purchase an existing enterprise when you could start your own from scratch?
The previous owner will have done a lot of the hard work for you
Let’s imagine that you love cooking and have always wanted to run your own cafe. If you look for one that is for sale as a going concern, you may be able to get cooking sooner. The previous owner will hopefully have done the following:
- Obtained necessary licenses and permits: Not all landlords allow their premised to be used to sell food, and local councils won’t always allow places to sell food in a particular area or past a certain hour at night.
- Put the place on the map: People already know the cafe exists. Hopefully, it still has a good reputation and plenty of clients, meaning you can make money immediately. But even if it does not, many former clients may look in once they hear it is under new ownership, especially if the location or building or decor is particularly appealing to them.
- Built up internet traffic: Getting Google and other search engines to rank you usually takes time, and there is some intrinsic value in existing as a presence on the internet for years.
If you are considering buying a going concern, consider seeking legal help to do due diligence. You cannot afford to take what the seller says about their figures at face value. You also need to know if there are any issues they have not disclosed, such as an ongoing lawsuit or undisclosed debts that could become your problem if you take over.