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Your 90-day Action Plan after Buying a Business

May 12, 2012 1 Comment


The actions you take in the first 90 days after you have purchased a business are crucial for its long-term success. We showed what things you need to take care of in the first 30 days after you buy the business. I asked you not to take any major decision in that time, but to learn and document everything about the business by asking questions and observing. By the end of 30 days you should have a plan of action to improve the business in the coming days and months. The plan of action needs to fall in two categories – short-term tactical improvements and long-term strategic direction.
Your focus in the first 90 days should mostly focus on short-term improvements. The idea is to get quick benefits by taking advantage of “low hanging fruits”, while at the same time keeping long-term direction in mind. These steps you take in the first 90 days will position your business well for coming months and years.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Customers, Employees, Purchasing Tagged With: , ,

Things You must do within 30 Days of buying a business

May 9, 2012 2 Comments


The first 30 days after you buy a business is the most critical time in owning a new business. Done right it will take your business to new heights, but done wrong you will be paying the price for a long time.
Buying a business can be exciting as well as nerve-racking for both, veteran as well as first-time, business owners. On one hand, you are eager to implement all the new ideas you have thought about during homework done at the time of due diligence. On the other hand, you could be losing sleep from the thought of all the things that could go wrong right after you step in.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Management Tagged With: ,

How can you Succeed in Business by Failing

February 7, 2012 2 Comments

In the previous post we discussed why failing is so important for all businesses. If you haven’t failed, you haven’t tried hard enough. And if you haven’t tried hard enough, you have lost the battle even before it has begun! In this sense, failure is closely tied to risk-taking. Only those who are willing to take risks are going to possibly fail. But then only those stand any chance of becoming successful.
Not all failures are created equal. There are some who will never recover from their first ever failure. And there are others, like Thomas Edison, who can fail 10,000 times but come up with life-changing innovation at the end. So, is it possible to approach risk-taking to improve your odds of success at the end? We think the answer is YES as shown in the following bullets.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Management Tagged With: ,

Success is Overrated. Why Failure is Important.

February 4, 2012 4 Comments


What is it about failure that brings different reactions from people? Just look at the way two types of people talk about how they failed. You can figure out who is going to make it big eventually and who will continue to toil for a long time. The first one will go something like – “Oh, what fun it was to work on that business!! Yes, we had to close the business eventually, but the thrill and experience we got from it we will never forget.” Now, compare this to what the second type of people are saying – “Boy, I would never go through that type of experience again. Not only did I lose everything I had, but, most importantly, I have lost desire to try something new again. Wish I had not got into it in the first place.” Guess who is going to be the successful business person?
Why is it important to fail?
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Filed Under: Management Tagged With:

What Type of Business is “Right” for You?

January 31, 2012 2 Comments


Is there such a thing as “right” business for you? It is a fact that not everyone is suitable to become a small business owner. There are signs that tell you whether you will succeed in owning a small business. But once you know that you have what it takes to be a small business owner, can you take it one step further and figure out which type of business will be a good fit? I think the answer is YES.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Finance, Management, Operations Tagged With: ,

What Business are you Really in?

January 28, 2012 1 Comment


“What business are you in?” This is one of my favorite questions to ask when we meet with small business owners and entrepreneurs. On surface this appears to be a very simple question. If you are a pizza business owner, of course you are in the business of selling pizza or food. But, think about it in terms of what value are you bringing to your customers rather than what you are selling. Are your customers really craving for pizza or are they looking for the convenience of no cooking and pizza happens to be one of the choices? Are they ordering pizza to feed bunch of kids at a birthday party? Are they looking to satisfy their hunger after late night partying without having to drive to your store? As you can see, how you look at your business can have a significant impact on how you run your business. In fact, it can determine the success or failure of your business down the road.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Customers, Marketing Tagged With: , ,

How do You know if your Business Idea will Succeed

January 24, 2012 1 Comment


Majority of small businesses fail in the first three years. As remarkable as this statistic is, it doesn’t stop number of aspiring entrepreneurs from pursuing their dream of owning a business. They think about their idea as the best thing since sliced bread was invented and are convinced that there is a huge untapped market out there that nobody as cracked. They have run their idea by close confidants and got their endorsement. Uncle Bob likes their product and Aunt Ann can’t wait to get her hand on it. There is only one problem. It is still an idea in your head!!!
So how do you go past this “pie in the sky” idea stage and make it a reality? Even more important, how do you know that this idea will succeed and will not leave you with agony and angst when it’s all over?
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Filed Under: Buyers, Finance, Management Tagged With: , , ,

10 Signs You will Fail as Small Business Owner

August 3, 2011 Leave a Comment


Not everyone has what it takes to be small business owner. Many people jump into small business without giving much thought to what is required to succeed. There are number of myths out there about small business that influence their decision about getting into small business.
Before you commit your time, money and effort to you own small business it helps to look for signs that show whether or not you will succeed as small business owner In addition, you should also look for signs that show that you may fail as small business owner. Below we have listed 10 of them. Examine yourself and see if you show any of these signs.
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10 Signs You will Succeed as Small Business Owner

July 31, 2011 1 Comment


Many people jump into small business without giving much thought to what is required to succeed. There are number of myths out there about small business that influence their decision about getting into small business.
However, not everyone has what it takes to be small business owner. We think there are special personality traits that you need to have to succeed as small business owner. While some people consider joining MBA to gain business knowledge from this resource about online colleges it also helps to have these personality traits for success as small business owner. We are on the lookout for signs that point to success as small business owner. Watch for these signs in to see if you will be successful.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Management, Operations Tagged With:

Are you too old to start small business?

July 13, 2011 Leave a Comment


When hearing the term entrepreneur most people think of a 20-something, smart looking kid who has just completed high-school or college and is eager to change the world. The images of Mark Zuckerberg or Google founders come to mind. While it is true that many of the famous companies were started by folks when they were in their prime, there is certainly an argument to be made for starting small business by people who are in their 40’s and 50’s.
Popular belief is that many of the people in that age group like to settle down and enjoy their steady lives. But there are number of “old” people who want to try their hands at entrepreneurship and small business ownership. We like to call them “experienced” as opposed to “old”.
So why do we think it is perfectly alright to start small business in 40’s and 50’s? There are number of reasons and they all have to do with what you have collected along the way.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Management Tagged With: ,
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