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Buy Y our Own Business

In 1990, when I bought my first business, I didn’t have the luxury of a

guide. I was earning $100,000 a year working in the consumer products divi-
sion of a large company when I lost $60,000 in the stock market. I was

frantic—my first child was on the way. The only way I could get out of the
hole was to win the Lottery, or go into my own business.
Sometimes I made mistakes, but with each new acquisition, I learned and
began to recognize these eight key steps to success:

1. Find the right business for you.

2. Know where to search.
3. Visit the business and meet with the seller.
4. Value the business.
5. Negotiate the deal.
6. Finance the purchase.
7. Do your own due diligence.
8. Close the deal.

Be prepared to work very hard. In the beginning, I put in over 60 hours a
week, and I was always thinking about my business.
Is it worth it? Absolutely! From day one of buying my fi rst business,
I scheduled my work so that I had the time I wanted to spend with my chil-

dren, and time to go fl y fishing every Wednesday afternoon. It’s about the
money, but it’s also about more than the money. That’s why I call my business
DIOMO, for “Doing It On My Own.”

Step 1: Find the Right Business for You

Be very honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. The right
business will grow from your strengths, and not suffer from your weaknesses.
Never, ever buy a business simply because you like the product. You love
birds, but that doesn’t mean you’re qualified to run an exotic bird store where

marketing may be the biggest skill that you need.
Whatever you do best must be the single most important driving factor
of the sales and profits of any business you’re thinking about buying. I’ll use

an example to illustrate:

Margaret was an attorney by education. When she decided to buy a local moving

and storage business, she had zero experience in the field, the industry had an
awful reputation, and men controlled the business almost exclusively at every level.
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