If I Buy a Business, What Down Payment is Required and How Much Can I Pay Myself?

A common question from first-time buyers is: If I buy a business, what down payment is required and how much can I pay myself?  We are going to attempt to answer the very difficult question of how much a buyer might expect to earn annually from an acquired business. To do so we have to make three assumptions to enable a computation. Business Down Payment Assumptions The assumptions are as follows: The business and buyer are able to qualify for…

Want to Buy a Business?  How and Where to Begin

90% of Prospective Buyers Never Buy a Business So you want to buy a business? So do many others. However, here is an often-cited statistic that may surprise you: 90% of buyers who begin the process of looking for a business never make an acquisition.  There are numerous reasons for this sad statistic, but chief among them is buyers (and sellers as well) begin the process with insufficient knowledge of the business-for-sale marketplace and have unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic Seller and…

Buyers: Why It’s Important to Inquire About Many Businesses

A Quick Review of How to Buy a Business Hopefully, you’ve read the previous two articles: If I Buy a Business, What Down Payment is Required and How Much Can I Pay Myself? and  Want to Buy a Business?  How and Where to Begin.  If you’ve done so and have taken action, you’ve already considered your strengths and weaknesses, your goals and interests, the minimum you need to earn from a business, the maximum amount of down payment you are…

How Buyers Should Work with Business Brokers

Hopefully, you’ve read the previous three articles: If I Buy a Business, What Down Payment is Required and How Much Can I Pay Myself?,  Want to Buy a Business?  How and Where to Begin and Buyers: Why It’s Important to Inquire About Many Businesses. In the last article, we encouraged you to look at as many businesses as possible to accelerate your education so you can recognize the right opportunity when it arises and to enable you to  move quickly…

The Best of Business-Buyer Education Articles

Especially for first-time buyers, we’ve tried to stress the importance of educating yourself about the business acquisition process.  We are not alone in making that recommendation.  Two of the best authors on buying a business, and our favorites, are Rose Stabler and Richard Parker.  Rose is the owner of Certified Business Brokers, headquartered in Houston, Texas,  and writes an outstanding blog about selling and buying businesses.  Richard is the owner of Diomo Corporation, which has a tag line of “We…