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Fundamentals of Buying a Business in Tampa

Let's look at the basic elements of of buying a business

Buy a business you like
Don't expect traditional financial information from the owner of a privately owned business
Tax returns of a privately owned business are prepared to show as little income for tax purposes as possible
You and the owner of the business should like and be comfortable with each other.
Commercial banks won't lend you the money to purchase a small, privately owned business, although they often say then can make SBA loans. However, we have select financial establishments that can and do finance our transactions
The owner of the business should finance a portion of the purchase
Don't pay yourself out of cash – you will need part of the reserves
You must make an offer before you have seen all of the financial and other business records of the business you are interested in buying. Don't waste time and money with accountants before having an accepted offer – they should review due diligence material which verifies information provided beforehand.

Buy a business you will like

Many business buyers think the most important quality in a business is profitability. Certainly you want a business that will have sufficient earnings to provide for you and your family, but this usually comes as a result of really enjoying what you do every day. Are you buying yourself a job or a career? Are your intentions more short term or long term? These are the types of questions you will need to ask yourself.

When you think of buying a business, think about what you like and don't like. If you fix in on a particular type of business, visualize yourself running the business. Visualize taking your friends and relatives to see your business. Do you like what you see? Will you be proud to own the business? If not, or if you are not sure, be very cautious about buying that type of business. RESEARCH FIRST AND BUY A BUSINESS YOU WILL ENJOY!

Be Flexible

You will need to have some flexibility in your search trying to find a business to buy. If you lock in on only one type of business, it could take you much longer to find one to buy. We like to start a buyer thinking about what they like and don't like using the following broad categories of businesses:

Service
Retail
Manufacturing
Distribution
Restaurant
Technology
Coin operated businesses
Construction
Franchises

First, decide if there are any categories that you absolutely do not want to be in. Second, focus on the categories and review the characteristics of these categories that could be of interest. This will lead to further elimination of those opportunities that don't seem right and further identification of those that do.

Once you have selected a primary category, you can begin to look for a business in earnest. You will find many different businesses within each category that share the primary characteristics of the broad category. You will then have to fine tune your selection. For example, within the retail category, we have clothing stores, shoe stores, boutiques of all types, bicycle shops, etc. Within the restaurant category, you can choose from full service restaurants to ice cream stores.

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