Building a small business can be exciting and rewarding, but it’s important to take the time to make sure that you’re building a strong foundation for your success. Buying an existing small business is one of the best ways to ensure that you have everything in place to start your venture on a solid footing. In addition, lenders prefer to finance a business that has already shown financial promise. But locating available businesses for sale with the right financial promise can be difficult. And if you’re starry eyed and optimistic about the future, it’s important to bring in someone impartial who can help you evaluate your assumptions before you jump in with both feet.
A small business is a privately owned corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship that has fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized company or corporation. How these are determined varies by industry and government, but the Small Business Administration (SBA) has its own set of standards that can help you qualify for certain types of support and tax policy.