The Buyers Dilemma-a simple question with a difficult answer!

In today's economy, there are more people looking to buy and sell businesses than ever before.

As such there are many people looking to take the "BIG" step into the world of business ownership and it would be hard to argue with them that there is a lot to consider. Interestingly one of the biggest concerns or questions is "what sort of business should I buy".

This is a real dilemma for buyers and although it sounds like it should be relatively simple to answer-for many it's not!!

To answer this questions it can be simplified by understanding there is a process that can be worked through to provide a new buyer with options.

To put this process into perspective, here is a comparison to understand the thought process.

Buying a house is something most of us understand. When we are looking for a house by default we have range of criteria that presents itself. Immediately most people are able to itemise a list of must haves or wants. For example a small family might need 3 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, larger yard, close to schools etc. You wouldn't randomly go into the housing market and buy any house.

This same concept applies in exactly the same way for business buyers, there is a need to develop a range of criteria to guide what type of business would be suitable to buy. Here are some of the considerations: Capital available, Background & experience, Geographical location, family or sole operator, type of returns expected, lifestyle, hours, retail or non-retail as you can see there many questions to ask and answer.

It's worth noting another approach is develop criteria list that focusses on what would not be suitable. For example lack of understanding or experience in a given field. By running this process you will create your own range of criteria to focus what may be suitable and just as importantly what you shouldn't look at!! For anyone considering buying a business work on your criteria, otherwise it will be an extremely frustrating process as you will waste so much time effort and money possibly looking at businesses that just will be not be right for you.

NZ Business Brokers work across all industries with business owners to advise, prepare and sell their business. We also work with lots of buyers to assist them navigate the process to find the right opportunity.