new to buying a business

[nayward]

Well there is a local business up for sale and I'm interested in it (dur lol) I'm planning on talking to the owner within the next few days, and I was wondering what should I ask the owner. Any advice would be grateful.

thanx in advance.

[hoardboy]

If you don't mind my asking, why are you selling?
Can I see your financial statements for the past three years?
Who are your biggest competitors?
What are the trends in your industry?
What can I do to increase sales and profits?
Will you finance part of the purchase price?
Will you stay with the business for a while?
Who knows that the business is for sale?
Who will I be negotiating with, and will that person be making the decision?
What is your timetable?

Just remember to listen well. For more in-depth information, Jim Blasingame has made an article. I can't post the link because I'm under the post count, but feel free to PM me for it.

Cheers, and goodluck!

[genevie]

Hi,

Before you can buy a new business you need to ask this question to the owner... why is the seller selling?You need to you asked to review the certified financial statements of income, cash flow and balance sheets for the last three years? If you borrow from a bank to purchase the venture, the bank will want to see them.

[TerjeSannarnes]

When buying online business make sure that a website has a good domain history, high PR, search engine rankings for the main key phrases and other SEO paramets. Also, it makes sense to spend some time to study the reputation of online business, cutomer reviews and etc.

[veikoh]

Ask why the seller thinks that his business is worth what he/she is asking for it?

[maksim]

All good points above. If the business is soooo good, why is the owner selling it?

ask for who his biggest competitors are, and go talk to them. Do your due dilligence.