Читать книгу Finance & Grow Your New Business - Angie Mohr - Страница 20

If you want to become a small-business owner, there are two ways to do it: you can either build a business from the ground up or you can buy an existing business. Each strategy has its pros and cons. The strategy that’s right for you will depend partly on your motivation for being a small-business owner and partly on cash flow considerations.

If your motivation for starting a small business is that you derive pleasure from building something from nothing, you are more likely to garner that pleasure from building your own business, although you may also take pleasure in buying a business and molding it into your image. On the other hand, your interests may lie more on the managing side and you would therefore prefer to walk into an existing business and begin to run it.

Cash flow also plays a part in your decision. If you are purchasing goodwill along with the net assets of the business, you will be paying more than if you simply purchase assets and start from scratch. Buying an existing business is usually the more expensive option. However, a business that is already up and running may provide you with profits and a management income earlier. This may offset the initial cost. When you build a small business from scratch, it may take months or even a year before you hit the break-even point, much less make profit that you can put in your pocket. In the meantime, you will be investing a large amount of your time building the enterprise without remuneration, and this is a cost that you must figure into your calculations as well.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of building a business from scratch versus those of buying an existing business.