Buy a Small Business in the United States

If you are looking for a business opportunity, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has an excellent website, including a search option for small businesses for sale in the United States. They also have financial options for those who are looking for a business opportunity to consider.

Small businesses consistently employ fifty percent of the workforce in the United States. Fifty-three percent of all small businesses are home-based, while three percent are franchises. You can always find a business opportunity that has to do with franchises. Franchises are a worthwhile consideration, simply because in most cases, the name and products are well known. If you take advantage of this type of business opportunity and buy a successful franchise, you usually don't have to worry about it folding in the first year. Franchise.com has a list of franchises offered for sale in the United States, as well as in other countries. You can look at a list of franchises and decide on the one you are interested in, and then learn more about it. The website also lists the franchise fees and investment required.

According to the SBA, there were 24.7 million small businesses in the United States in 2004, the last year for which figures are available. 580,000 new small businesses opened in 2004 and 576,000 closed in the same year. The competition for any small business to succeed is ferocious, but with more than 24 million in existence, it's clear that they do succeed.

If you are going to be working in the business yourself, it's important that you buy a business that you truly care about. If however, this business opportunity is purely an investment for you, then certainly the best business deal financially would make sense. Some people who open new businesses work 14, 16 or even more hours per day until the business really gets off the ground. This would be almost impossible to do if you didn't like what you were doing.

Home business opportunities are as far and wide as your imagination. You can start your own business or buy an existing one. You could have an online business, or a more conventional store or office. If you select a business opportunity that will have you doing something that you love, the money will likely follow.

It's not difficult to find a business for sale. There are listings all over the Internet, as well as in almost every newspaper in the country. What matters, obviously, is finding the right business - one that will meet all of your needs, not just your financial ones. How much time do you have to devote to this business? Will this be your only business or one of many? Will you run it yourself or will you hire people to do that for you?

You can do, or you can hire others to do, some sophisticated market research to ensure that your product or service will sell in certain areas. Of course, if it's an online business opportunity, you can do plenty of your own research quite easily. You can look at what other websites are selling, whether it is a product or a service, and to a degree, you can see how popular they are.

If you need to get a loan for your business opportunity, you have several options. The SBA can direct you to several loan options, although they don't lend money themselves. The SBA is a great place to start anyway, simply because they do have so many resources. They have a lot of statistical information that you might find helpful in your market research, and they have several free publications to help you along in your small business journey.

Probably the most important thing you can do before buying a small business is your homework. Investigate more than one business before settling on a specific business opportunity, and above all, make sure it is something that you enjoy!

Business Financing Guide (Simple)

This business financing guide shows the items that you will need to prepare if you are planning to get loan from financial institution when you buy  busimarket.com business for sale . Getting financing can be easier with knowledge about the financing and with complete preparation of documents and statements in process of buying  busimarket.com business for sale .

Step 1. Find a Business for sale at BusiMarket.com site for businesses for sale and commercial property for sale on the market. As soon as a property is found, make any necessary contacts to sellers.

Step 2. Get Purchase and Sale AgreementGet the sale agreement from Brokers, attorneys, or Escrow companies.

Step 3. Find a LenderFind a Loan Officer that will take care of your financing needs.

Step 4. Prepare Required Documents  - Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Business or Commercial Property,
  - Personal Financial Statement provided by the lender,
  - Income tax returns from both buyer and seller from the last three years
  - an up-to-date income statement,
  - Resume from the buyer,
  - Lease Agreement(if applies),
  - Assignment for Lease (if applies),
 
Step 5. Finally, wait for the loan approval (usually takes 2-4 weeks)

Since the financing process can be different on type of business, location, and buyer's situation. The information above is for information only and BusiMarket.com does not guarantee accuracy of information.

Business Buying Guide - Detail

Business Buying Process

First, You have to determining your investment. Usually minimum down payment made by the buyer is 30% of the purchase price. For example, if the business purchase price is $100,000 and loan amount is $70,000 (70%), then the buyer's down payment needs to be $30,000 (30%). Other possible expenses are inventories, supplies, escrow fee, license and permit fees, franchise transfer fee (if applies), etc.

And then you have to set criteria of desired business. Which includes location of business, type of business, price range of business, desired income of business.

After you decide your investment amount and criteria of business, you will need to find a right business that fit your needs. You can search business through online business listing service site like www.BusiMarket.com  busimarket.com Business For Sale , local newspapers, or through local business brokers or real estate agents.

If you find a business that you want to purchase, you will need to evaluate the business through current owner's income information and your projected income for short term and long term.
And then you need to make decision to purchase business or not. If the business is right for you, you need to write a very descriptive and detailed contract (Purchase and Sale Agreement).

When you are writing an offer, you have to make sure the contract includes the followings: Your offering price, Initial deposit amount, financing terms, closing date.  Other terms and conditions that can be added to the contract is buyer's loan approval, lease and lease approval from landlord, buyer to obtain all necessary licenses and permits, franchisor's approval of ownership transfer, the buyer's Satisfaction of books and records, closing cost allocation, buyer training session, business equipment and fixtures in good working condition, inventories and supplies amount, seller's agreement not to compete, etc.

After you finish writing an offer, you need to present your offer to seller. Negotiate the price, terms, and conditions and settle with final price and terms and condition.

Now you will need to allocate the purchase price of business that you are buying. After you done purchase price allocation, you will need to apply for loan, license and permits.

and then you will need to obtain a lease or sublease. You will need to make sure you obtain the lease or get an approval of lease assignment before close of escrow no matter what happened.

And then on or the day before the closing date, you will need to review the equipment list that is provided at the time of the acceptance of the Purchase and Sale agreement and buy inventories and supplies. And then you can do the closing on the closing date.

Awareness and Mastery -Two Essential Keys To a Successful Small Business

At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."
~ George Leonard
US pioneer in human potential


We often hear managers complaining that their employees aren't productive, don't listen and just can't consistently get the job done. As a youth sports coach, I hear coaches with similar complaints—the kids don't listen, don't know where to go and don't try very hard. I can't relate. The boys on my team are usually focused, do what I ask of them, and work hard. As a business owner, my employees are focused, do what I ask of them and work hard. What am I doing that is different from the rest? And what can this teach you about running a successful small business?

As a coach, I make my boys' jobs very simple. I ask only two things of them. I ask them to master one shot and I ask them to be aware of what is going on around them. Of course we work on defensive and offensive strategy, but both of those revolve around the two keys that I gave them for success—awareness and mastery.

I teach awareness by constantly asking them to be aware of where the ball is and at the same time to be aware of their teammates are and where their opponents are. I teach them how to see the ball and their opponent when he doesn't have the ball. Sounds simple, but for ten year olds this is work.

I teach mastery by assigning homework to each boy. The second week of practice, they have to show me a spot on the court from which they can make a shot every time. I don't care if it is from just two feet under the basket. I want them to know they can make it every single time. As the season progresses, they may gradually move their spot further and further out, but I still ask that they be able to make their shot every time unguarded in practice.

These two simple concepts have a tremendous effect on the boys during their games. They have incredible confidence in their ability to make shots because they "know" that they will always make it. I don't need to yell at them like other coaches about where they should be on the court because they have developed awareness of what they are doing and seeing. Now let's see how you can use this in your successful small business.

As a business owner, I put these two key principles to work in training my employees. From the first day on the job, I work with them to be aware of what tasks are needed, what I expect of them, how I want customers treated, etc. And I ask them to master tasks and customer scripts. Once they are mastered, I open it up for them to adlib just like with my players. When correction is needed, it is usually in one of these two areas. They are either unaware of what is needed or they haven't mastered the task at hand.

Not only does following these two concepts make it easy for me to get results with my players and employees, it also brings incredible results. My first team lost only one game all season and my employees rarely lose a sale. My businesses and products win awards earned by my employees. And, as a bonus, everyone enjoys themselves with this simple structure. I knew I was doing it right when the father of one of my boys told me that his boy enjoyed practice so much that he chose to come to practice instead of going to see our professional basketball team play one night. And I know it works with my employees because they show up on time happy, focused and ready to work. Remember, awareness and mastery are two essential keys to a successful small business.