The Fear of Buying

You've no doubt heard of the Fear of Flying. Nervous flyers grip the arm rests until their knuckles turn white. Of course it's not a fear of flying, but a fear of crashing and burning.


It's my experience that many business buyers have the same type of fear. They aren't afraid of buying a business or even operating one, but they have a deadly fear of crashing and burning. As a result many will never be able to overcome their fears and buy a business. They'll never know if they have what it takes to own a business.


No, it's not easy. Ask any small business owner and they'll probably be honest with you about the ups and downs. It's rarely a smooth flight, but there are plenty of highs.


I was working with a buyer recently and he bemoaned the fact that the customers could all disappear.


Well, yes. What do you think will happen if he dramatically increases prices, lowers the quality of service and makes poor hiring decisions. He'll be lucky to last a year. But he's a smart guy and there's no way he's going to make all bad decisions. But over the course of the life of the business he is sure to make some poor choices. Looking back on your life were all your decisions good ones? Not likely, but you learned as much from the bad decisions, perhaps more, as you did from the good ones.



Here's my once piece of advice to a new business owner. Start making a list of all the things you need to change about the business. Then do absolutely nothing! Okay, there could be something you positively must change, but try to limit the changes for three months. At the end of three months take another look at the list. Chances are you will have decided some of those changes don't need to be made and you'll feel more confident about making the other changes.

Owning a business is a challenge, but there are many advantages. Take the first step and decide what kind of business is right for you. I can help you find the right business.

Jon Hunt
Senior Associate