Eric Tyson, Jim Schell

Buying a Business For Dummies

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Turn business ownership dreams into reality Starting a business from scratch is hard, especially if you lack specific profitable ideas. If you'd prefer to skip starting from square one, buying an existing a business or franchise could be just the right ticket for you. This book, written by a pair of highly experienced serial entrepreneurs covers the essentials for finding an opportunity that matches your goals and making it yours. You'll get a beginner-friendly rundown of how the whole process works, plus valuable tips on choosing the right business, negotiating a good deal, and doing all the right things to keep your new firm thriving and growing. Inside... * Evaluating your risk tolerance * Researching before you buy * Going over the numbers * Making the offer and closing the deal * Ensuring a smooth transition * Handling legal issues * Creating a growth plan * Avoiding common mistakes

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Seitenzahl: 304
• Erscheinungstermin: 22. April 2024
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 446g
• ISBN-13: 9781394245758
• ISBN-10: 1394245750
• Artikelnr.: 69077418

Autorenporträt

Eric Tyson, MBA is a nationally-recognized personal finance counselor, writer, and best-selling author of Personal Finance For Dummies. Jim Schell is an accomplished serial entrepreneur, nonprofit founder, and executive. He spent twenty-five years as an entrepreneur and thirty years as a nonprofit founder and executive. Eric and Jim are co-authors of Small Business For Dummies.

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction 1
 
About This Book 1
 
Foolish Assumptions 3
 
Icons Used in This Book 3
 
Beyond the Book 4
 
Where to Go from Here 4
 
Part 1: Deciding to Buy a Business 5
 
Chapter 1: Preparing to Buy a Business 7
 
Figuring Your Financial Fitness 8
 
Assess your financial position and goals 8
 
Measuring your net worth 9
 
Telling good debt from bad debt 10
 
Reducing debt 10
 
Buying insurance 12
 
Planning for the long term 12
 
Shrink your spending 14
 
Build up your cash reserves 14
 
Stabilize income with part time work 15
 
Assessing and Replacing Benefits 16
 
Retirement savings plans and pensions 16
 
Health insurance 17
 
Disability insurance 18
 
Life insurance 18
 
Dental, vision, and other insurance 20
 
Social Security taxes 20
 
Time off 21
 
Understanding Your Time and Financial Commitments to Buy 21
 
Stepping Toward Buying a Business 22
 
Enlisting Help from Top-Notch Professionals 23
 
Start with free/low-cost industry resources 23
 
Finding and interviewing reputable professionals 24
 
Estimating the Cost of Your Search and Business Acquisition 25
 
Calculating a down payment amount 25
 
Tallying search expenses 26
 
Finding funding 27
 
Chapter 2: Is Buying a Business for You? 29
 
Understanding Why to Buy a Business 30
 
To reduce start-up hassles and headaches 31
 
To lessen your risk 32
 
To increase profits by adding value 32
 
To establish cash flow 33
 
To capitalize on someone else's good idea 34
 
To open locked doors 34
 
To inherit an established customer base 35
 
Knowing When You Shouldn't Buy 35
 
You dislike inherited baggage 35
 
You're going to skimp on inspections 36
 
You lack capital 38
 
You think you'll miss out on the satisfaction of creating a business 38
 
Recognizing Prepurchase Prerequisites 39
 
Business experience and training 39
 
Down payment money 41
 
Do You Have the Right Stuff? 42
 
Getting started with the instructions 42
 
Answering the questions 43
 
Scoring the test 45
 
Analyzing your results 46
 
Part 2: Picking the Business That Fits Your Situation 49
 
Chapter 3: Determining Your Niche 51
 
Why You Don't Need a New Idea to Be Successful 52
 
Choosing Your Business 54
 
Consider your category 54
 
Take advantage of accidental opportunities 56
 
Inventory your skills, interests, and job history 56
 
Narrow your choices 59
 
Go in search of fast growth 60
 
Take advantage of government resources 62
 
Chapter 4: Finding the Right Business to Buy 65
 
Defining Your Business-Buying Appetite 66
 
Generating Leads 68
 
Perusing publications 68
 
Networking with advisors 69
 
Knocking on doors 69
 
Enlisting business brokers 70
 
Considering a Franchise 73
 
Franchise advantages 74
 
Franchise disadvantages 75
 
Evaluating Multilevel Marketing (MLM) Firms 76
 
Being wary of pyramid schemes 77
 
Finding the better MLMs 78
 
Checking Out Work-from-Home Opportunities 79
 
Chapter 5: Evaluating a Business to Buy 81
 
Examining Owners' and Key Employees' Backgrounds 82
 
Finding Out Why the Owner Is Selling 84
 
Surveying the Company Culture 87
 
Deciding on Terms 88
 
Inspecting the Financial Statements 89
 
Interpreting the profit and loss statement 90
 
Reviewing the balance sheet 95
 
Understanding key ratios and percentages 101
 
Uncovering Lease Contract Terms 106
 
Evaluating Special Franchise Issues 106
 
Thoroughly review regulatory filings 107
 
Evaluate the franchiser's motives 107
 
Interview plenty of franchisees 108
 
Understand what you're buying and examine comparables 109
 
Check with federal and state regulators 110
 
Investigate the company's credit history 110
 
Analyze and negotiate the franchise contract 110
 
Part 3: Negotiating Terms and Sealing the Deal 113
 
Chapter 6: Figuring Out How Much the Business is Worth 115
 
Exploring Valuation Methods: Multiple of Earnings and Book Value 116
 
Getting a Professional Appraisal 118
 
Tracking Businesses You've Explored That Have Sold 119
 
Tapping the Knowledge of Advisors Who Work with Similar Companies 119
 
Consulting Research Firms and Publications 120
 
Turning to Trade Publications 120
 
Enlisting the Services of a Business Broker 121
 
Chapter 7: Financing Your Deal 123
 
Outsourcing Financing 123
 
Taking advantage of seller financing 124
 
Banking on banks 124
 
Getting money from nonbanks 126
 
Financing Yourself: Bootstrapping 131
 
Chapter 8: Preparing a Purchase Offer 133
 
Writing a Letter of Intent or an Indication of Interest (IOI) 134
 
Drafting an Indication of Interest (IOI) 134
 
Writing a Letter of Intent (LOI) 135
 
Developing Purchase Offer Contingencies 135
 
Allocating the Purchase Price 137
 
Doing More Due Diligence 138
 
Think about income statement issues 139
 
Consider legal and tax concerns 140
 
Part 4: Managing a Smooth Transition 141
 
Chapter 9: Moving into Your Business 143
 
Getting Important Things Down on Paper 144
 
Considering the Business Entity 145
 
Sole proprietorships 145
 
C corporations 147
 
S corporations 153
 
Partnerships 155
 
Limited liability companies (LLCs) 155
 
Gaining Insight from Others 157
 
Chapter 10: Business Owner Basics 159
 
Minding the Details of Business Ownership 160
 
Buying insurance 160
 
Paying federal, state, and local taxes 163
 
Negotiating leases 163
 
Maintaining employee records 164
 
Getting licenses and permits 165
 
Signing the checks 165
 
Outsourcing: Focus on What You Do Best 166
 
Surveying the most commonly outsourced tasks 166
 
Figuring out what to outsource 168
 
Simplifying Your Accounting 169
 
Introducing some common systems 170
 
Choosing the system that's right for you 177
 
Controlling Your Expenses 178
 
Looking at fixed and variable expenses 179
 
Understanding zero-based budgeting 181
 
Managing Vendor Relationships 182
 
Dealing with Bankers, Lawyers, and Other Outsiders 184
 
Bankers 184
 
Lawyers 186
 
Tax advisors 189
 
Consultants 189
 
Governments 190
 
Chapter 11: Handling Regulatory and Legal Issues 191
 
Navigating Small-Business Laws 192
 
Complying with Small-Business Regulations 194
 
Complying through licensing, registrations, and permits 194
 
Protecting ideas: Nondisclosures, patents, trademarks, and copyrights 202
 
A business prenup: Contracts with customers and suppliers 206
 
Laboring over Employee Costs and Laws 207
 
Part 5: Creating a Growth Trajectory 209
 
Chapter 12: Keeping and Attracting Superstar Employees 211
 
Motivating Top Performers to Stay 212
 
Revisiting the Compensation Plan 214
 
Reviewing the types of compensation 215
 
Creating a compensation plan that works for your business 216
 
Introducing Changes to Employee Benefits 217
 
Including insurance and other benefits 218
 
Seeing the real value in retirement plans 222
 
Deciding whether to share equity 224
 
Bringing in New Talent 228
 
Training: An Investment, Not an Expense 232
 
Parting Company: Firing an Employee 233
 
Designing Flexible Organization Charts 236
 
Valuing Employee Manuals 238
 
Characterizing Successful Employers 240
 
Flexibility: The bending of rules 241
 
Accountability: Where the buck doesn't get passed 242
 
Follow-up: The more you do it, the less you need it 243
 
Chapter 13: Keeping Your Customers Loyal 245
 
Retaining Your Customer Base 246
 
Getting it right the first time 246
 
Continuing to offer more value 247
 
Remembering that company policy is meant to be bent 247
 
Learning from customer defections 249
 
Recognizing and practicing customer service 251
 
Dealing with Dissatisfied Customers 255
 
Listen, listen, listen 256
 
Develop a solution 257
 
Expanding Your Customer Base 258
 
Marketing defined 259
 
Mastering the key elements of marketing 260
 
Part 6: the Part of Tens 261
 
Chapter 14: Ten (or So) Ways to Learn from the Experiences of Others 263
 
Utilize Mentors 264
 
Network with Peers 264
 
Form a Board of Advisors 265
 
Find a Partner 266
 
Join a Trade Association 267
 
Locate a Small Business Development Center 269
 
Give SCORE a Try 269
 
Tap into Small-Business Information 270
 
Chapter 15: Ten Ongoing Tax Jobs 271
 
Keeping Track of Your Small Business Revenues and Costs 272
 
Separating Business from Personal Finances 272
 
Documenting Expenses and Income in the Event of an Audit 273
 
Keeping Current on Income, Employment/Payroll and Sales Taxes 274
 
Reducing Your Taxes by Legally Shifting Income and Expenses 276
 
Ensuring a Complete and Accurate Tax Return 277
 
Tracking Tax Information on Your Computer or Smartphone 278
 
Deciding When to Stash and When to Trash 278
 
Replacing Lost Business Records 279
 
Index 281