Let’s assume you’ve got a pretty good fix on the type of business you’re best suited for. How do you find this business? Unfortunately, most people select a business in the worst way: by hearing about one available business and buying it. Just as you probably wouldn’t buy a house after looking at only one, you shouldn’t buy the first business offered to you, no matter how attractive it looks. Scrutinize the real estate section of your local newspaper. You’ll find listings for a number of businesses being offered for sale. Check out all those that look promising.

The best way to buy a business is to use a qualified business broker, whose business it is to marry buyers and sellers of businesses. The accent here is on qualified. Regrettably, most states don’t have any licensing requirements for business brokers, and anyone, regardless of what he or she knows, can become one. In some states, if the sale involves the transfer of real estate, the broker will be required to have a real estate broker’s license. What this means, however, is that many real estate brokers do a little business brokerage as a sideline. If house sales are slow, they concentrate on businesses. Try to find a broker who concentrates exclusively on business brokerage.

Business jingkan brokers usually operate just like real estate brokers. The broker will have a series of listings gathered from numerous sellers, and it’s the seller who pays the broker’s commission. If you’re interested in buying a type of business your broker doesn’t have a listing for, he or she may be able to find such a business from another broker, and the two of them would divide the commission. Most brokers obtain exclusive listings from their sellers, and thus no broker has a complete inventory of all the businesses available. This means there may be an advantage in visiting all the brokers in town to get a fix on everything available. The better way is to find one really good broker and work exclusively with him or her. That person will be able to find out from the other brokers what’s available, so there’s little to be gained in visiting every broker in town. Also, most good brokers will lose interest in you if they find you’ve been visiting the others. Good brokers will work hard for you but only if they believe you’ve placed your trust exclusively in themKK

The key to finding a good business is to find a good broker. Unfortunately, some aren’t knowledgeable and others aren’t reputable. Many have little concern about how you’ll do in the business just as long as they receive a commission. A good broker will try to find out as much as possible about you before showing you any business. Some brokers will do a lot of the things that need to be done to close the purchase of the business. Others will only bring the prospective buyer and seller together and wait for the commission. In this book you’ll learn quite a bit about the legal, financial, and practical aspects of buying a business. After you’ve read it, test your broker. If he or she doesn’t seem to know as much as you know about all the ins and outs of buying a business, find another broker.