Hey guys,
As the title states: Does anyone have any experience with buying a business that you had no previous connection with in the sense that you're not tied to it by family, you haven't worked there before, etc. You are basically going in "blind" if you will.
To take it one step further, has anyone bought a business that they had little to no experience in the field?
How has it worked out for you?
I have come across an opportunity to buy a salon. I have absolutely no experience in the field and neither does my family. However, the financials are solid (even with Covid) and the price is reasonable given the numbers. It wouldn't be a "huge" risk as the asking price isn't crazy - we're talking about 20k down or so with seller financing so there would be no bank loans. I would be focusing on day to day management, marketing, etc. I would not be doing any of the work myself. One huge selling point, actually the whole reason why I am even considering it, is that the owner wants to stay on in the business but only do the salon work/cut back on her hours. This would give me the opportunity to learn directly from the owner so in that sense I would be going in blind but I would have a helping hand right from the start.
Backstory: I work in landscaping and other manual labor jobs. I'm not interested in doing that anymore. I dropped out of college as a senior. Needless to say, my employment prospects are not ideal. This would provide a starting point in life as I look toward other things.
Positives:
1) Seller is staying on.
2) Low risk in the scheme of things (20k) - at least to get started. Further money would be invested in marketing, etc.
3) Good financials with covid - even being shut down for 3 months during lock down. They obviously took a drastic hit but are slowly recovering.
4) Upside is good assuming things get back to normal over the next year or two.
5) Really nice "side" income assuming I can get the business up to snuff and having the owner on site will really help kick this off. I think I could become an absentee owner in a few years assuming my marketing efforts are successful and I can hire a good manager, etc.
Negatives:
1) Know nothing about the business.
2) I would be the only guy in a female dominated field. All the employees are female. Clients are female. This isn't a bad thing per say but I'm not sure what kind of reception I would have as a dude jumping into this field. This might not be a non issue for most but it's a self confidence/perception thing for me. I'm not sure if it is warranted or not. Any thoughts on this?
Am I crazy?
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
As the title states: Does anyone have any experience with buying a business that you had no previous connection with in the sense that you're not tied to it by family, you haven't worked there before, etc. You are basically going in "blind" if you will.
To take it one step further, has anyone bought a business that they had little to no experience in the field?
How has it worked out for you?
I have come across an opportunity to buy a salon. I have absolutely no experience in the field and neither does my family. However, the financials are solid (even with Covid) and the price is reasonable given the numbers. It wouldn't be a "huge" risk as the asking price isn't crazy - we're talking about 20k down or so with seller financing so there would be no bank loans. I would be focusing on day to day management, marketing, etc. I would not be doing any of the work myself. One huge selling point, actually the whole reason why I am even considering it, is that the owner wants to stay on in the business but only do the salon work/cut back on her hours. This would give me the opportunity to learn directly from the owner so in that sense I would be going in blind but I would have a helping hand right from the start.
Backstory: I work in landscaping and other manual labor jobs. I'm not interested in doing that anymore. I dropped out of college as a senior. Needless to say, my employment prospects are not ideal. This would provide a starting point in life as I look toward other things.
Positives:
1) Seller is staying on.
2) Low risk in the scheme of things (20k) - at least to get started. Further money would be invested in marketing, etc.
3) Good financials with covid - even being shut down for 3 months during lock down. They obviously took a drastic hit but are slowly recovering.
4) Upside is good assuming things get back to normal over the next year or two.
5) Really nice "side" income assuming I can get the business up to snuff and having the owner on site will really help kick this off. I think I could become an absentee owner in a few years assuming my marketing efforts are successful and I can hire a good manager, etc.
Negatives:
1) Know nothing about the business.
2) I would be the only guy in a female dominated field. All the employees are female. Clients are female. This isn't a bad thing per say but I'm not sure what kind of reception I would have as a dude jumping into this field. This might not be a non issue for most but it's a self confidence/perception thing for me. I'm not sure if it is warranted or not. Any thoughts on this?
Am I crazy?
Any thoughts?
Thanks.