Buy a Store, Don’t Start One!
It’s the Smartest Idea You Will Ever Have!
By Richard Parker: President of The Resource Center for A Retail Business™ and author of How To Buy A Good Retail Business At A Great Price© .
When you own a store, you can be your own boss. You can sell exciting products. You’ll get to build great relationships with your customers. Best of all, you’ll enjoy a lot of freedom and earn a ton of money at the same time.
Okay, but what about the risks? Don’t an awful lot of stores fail?
Well, yes they do. That’s why your wisest course of action is to buy an existing store, not start one from scratch. Let me set out just a few of the many reasons:
- You’ll minimize the unknowns. If you start your own new store, you will have little idea on its viability as a business. Will your florist on main street attract a steady flow of customers, or not? Will people come into your toy store to shop? Even if you do all the market research in the world, you cannot be 100 percent certain. But if you are buying an existing retail business, you have lots of information at hand. You can look at the sales and income statements for the preceding years. You can visit the store before you buy it, to determine with your own eyes whether or not it is generating traffic, sales and profits. So no doubt about it – buying an existing retail business and not starting one, is a surer path to owning a successful enterprise.
- Customers will walk through your door on the first day you own your business! That is a statement that very few people can make when starting any new business of their own.
- You get to study the business’s operations under the previous owner. That will help you decide whether to buy the business or not, of course. But it also helps you pinpoint areas where you can improve operations to generate greater profits.
- You can negotiate on price. There are many reasons why people sell retail businesses for reduced prices. Perhaps they want to retire. Perhaps they have started other businesses and need quick cash. Perhaps they simply like you and want to see you take over the businesses they built! You will be struck by how many retail bargains are available – and you can negotiate on price and ask for owner financing. It’s the best of all possible worlds.
- Your dollar goes a lot farther. Just look at the costs of equipping and outfitting a new retail business! Depending on the kind of store you are starting, you will need display cases, shelves, lighting fixtures, signs, security alarms, inventory-management equipment, cash registers – and the list goes on and on. When you buy an existing retail business, you save the costs of buying brand-new equipment, acquiring facilities, staffing up - and lots more. (At the very least, you will be acquiring them at drastically reduced cost.) So the bottom line is, you get a lot more bang for your buck when you buy an existing retail business.
- Your new business can be a platform for additional enterprises. Perhaps the seller sees his company as little more than a hobby shop. But you have the vision to see that you can expand it into a blockbuster Internet retailer – or partner with Amazon to drop ship orders to its customers. You’re not just buying a business. You are getting a platform for new activities and remarkable success!
Are you as excited as I am about buying a retail businesses? After reading this article, you should be! That’s why you should order our guide, How to Buy a Good Retail Business at a Great Price© today.
This article represents a fraction of what you’ll learn in How To Buy A Good Retail Business At A Great Price© - the most widely used reference resource and strategy guide for anyone thinking about buying a retail store. Read a detailed listing of what you'll learn.
