Читать книгу Buying and Selling a Business - Garrett Sutton - Страница 9

It sounds like paradise – being your own boss. Owning your own business, setting your own hours, answering to no one, even dressing how you like. Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad advocates owning businesses, ideally managed by others, for the income they generate and the freedom they can provide. But whether you are a non managing entrepreneur or a day-to-day boss, being the owner also means taking the responsibility – all the responsibility – for the business’s health. The success or failure of your business (and correspondingly your personal financial success) lies squarely on your shoulders. There are no sick days, no vacation pay, no downsizing opportunities. A turn in the economy no longer means only worry over job security, but worry over utter financial ruin. There are no security blankets in the entrepreneurial world, so you’d better know from the start if you are a Linus or a Lucy. Linus was the intellectual of the Peanuts gang, but he required security. Lucy was the go-getter, schemer who never thought anything through. Somewhere between the personalities of this brother-sister duo is the ideal entrepreneur. Do you have the right entrepreneurial personality?

Before you buy a business, recognize that knowing your strengths and weaknesses going in can save you hours, possibly years, of frustration, as well as limit your financial risk. Ask yourself some questions. Here are a few with which to start:

• How does your education compare to the demands of the industry you plan to enter?

• Do you know how to track financials and plan for taxes?

• How do you feel about sales and marketing? How does your experience stack up?

• Do your skills lend themselves to running the type of business you are considering?

• Will your needs be met by your skills? If not, are these skills ones you can learn? If so, how long will it take you to get up to speed?

• On a more interior level, how do the needs of the business fit your personality? If you don’t really like people, you may not enjoy retail. If you abhor math, the intense financial and money management aspects of manufacturing won’t likely be to your liking.

• Some businesses live and die at the feet of a strong leader. The identity of the business may be the identity of the owner. Can you be all things to all people?

• Some businesses require travel or heavy lifting or working nights, weekends and holidays. Does your lifestyle allow for that? Are you willing to make the necessary changes? The odds of succeeding at a business you don’t like, or whose demands do not naturally suit you, aren’t good. Go with what you enjoy, what you know, or what you can learn.

• How do your goals measure up to what the business can realistically offer? Passion will take you far, knowledge even further, but in the end it may be the numbers that tell the tale. So don’t make decisions without them. Let your passion be for your objectives, even an industry, but not a particular business. Let your heart have its say, but let your head lead the way.

• Will you be a good entrepreneur? Consider the following:

1. Do you need a lot of supervision or do you find your own way?

2. Are you trusted by others?

3. Are you responsible by choice or by force?

4. Are you a people person?

5. Are you a leader?

6. Are you willing to go the distance even if there is no immediate reward in sight?

7. Are you a decision-maker?

8. Can you put the big picture before immediate reward?

9. Do you finish what you start?

• Do you know who you are and what you want? Pull out your resume. Analyze it realistically. Write out your goals. Write out the realistic potential of the company you are considering. Imagine yourself running the company. Be specific. There is power in the specificity of written goals: Let them guide you in deciding if you are right for the business and if the business is right for you.

• How will your family adapt? Now, before any papers are signed and any obligations finalized, is the time to bring in family considerations.

1. What will the extra hours and extra worry do to your family?

2. Will family members be able or willing to help carry the load?

3. How will the decrease in financial security affect the cohesiveness of your family?

4. Is it worth giving up the concreteness of paychecks, insurance, retirement benefits, vacation and the like for the pride of ownership and the hopes of long-term payoff? In the language of Robert Kiyosaki’s Cash Flow Quadrant, are you ready to go from being an E (Employee) to an S (Self-Employed Business Owner) to hopefully a B (Owner of a Business Managed by Others).

5. What is the flexibility of family members – financially, psychologically and emotionally? Make sure you know everyone’s needs and consider whether this purchase will meet those needs.

6. If you don’t get family support, will you be able to do it on your own? Family-run businesses don’t necessarily put the whole family to work. If you expect help from a spouse, children or others, you need to get their support long before the closing.

• Are you running from something (dead-end job, mind-numbing boredom, the boss from hell) or toward something (self-esteem, independence, creativity)? If you are running from something, no business will take you far enough. But if you are running toward something, the distance will be greatly shortened with a bit of forethought and planning.