Now you know a little about how to finance a business and perform your due diligence, what do you do after a closing? Although the below list is not exclusive, here are some tips; some of these contain legal advice, and others come from my experience in watching business acquisitions.
1. Learn from the Seller. Hopefully, during the negotiations to purchase the business, you included a clause that required the Seller to either work for you or be available for consulting during the initial period after closing. In my experience, the Seller's expertise is a sorely underused resource after the purchase. Most Sellers are willing to offer their advice--and in fact, expect to be able to offer their advice, if they're owner-financing the purchase. Too many purchasers come in with the idea that they're going to take it, with no experience, and turn it into a goldmine. Remember: it was a going concern before you bought the business, so learn first the way the seller did it. Then improve on it if necessary.
2. Incorporate. If you didn't prior to closing, take the time to incorporate your business into some sort of liability-protected entity, so that your personal assets are not at risk for the actions of the business or its employees.
3. Watch your cash flow and debt service. Another thing that I've seen cause new business purchasers to crash is their failure to watch their cash flow and their debt service. Often the individual who has grown a business and then sells is now financially successful. But that success often came after much initial sacrifice of time and enjoyment, and a period of lean years where the business owner had to forego some material comforts in order to grow the business. The buyer, however, sometimes just sees the end result (a wealthy business owner), and expects to walk right in, have a positive cashflow, and begin making a wealthy living immediately. Remember, you're probably paying more money out at the beginning (if nothing else, in loan payments) than what the Seller had been paying when he sold it to you. Those first few years should not be a time of purchasing lots of material items; they should be spent learning the business, growing the business and paying down the debt so that the business can one day may you more money. Don't buy every new item that you think your business might need that first year; don't get heavier in debt. Make sure the bills are paid, then grow the business, then you can one day profit on a more personal level.
4. Surround yourself with professionals. If you're taking over a business, you are in a sense a business professional. You're asking the public to come to you and purchase specific product or service which you claim to be more qualified than the average public to provide. If you want to help your success, therefore, you need to surround yourself with advisors and professionals who are similarly outstanding. At the very least, you need a good certified public accountant (CPA), and an attorney who specializes in business representation. Going to the guy down the street who "does books" might cost you a smaller fee, but a genuine accounting professional will save you money in the long run--I've seen it: my clients with professionally certified accountants come out better on their taxes and bookkeeping than with nonprofessionals. Similarly, the lawyer who goes to you church and did your daughter's traffic ticket may be a nice guy, and give you some good general advice, but you need to find someone whose day-in and day-out practice consists of representing people like you. You're a professional--now surround yourself with other professionals. Your business depends on it.
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