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Why Buying An Existing Business Better Than Setting Up A New Business?

Reviewed By Jason Guerrettaz

Written By Lassiter Mason

Published July 24, 2018

Updated March 12, 2025

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The thought of starting a business can be a bit overwhelming due to the fact that it requires you to have a good idea,  some creativity skill, a proven business model, the right amount of capital, hard work, and patience. These primary prequisites can’t be compromised or ignored in any way. In addition to this, starting a business from scratch has varied operational difficulties, including the difficulty of building a customer base, marketing, hiring employees, maintaining cash flow, and initial legal complexities.

WebsiteClosers has been the market leader in buying and selling online businesses since 1998. With so much experience, they have earned a solid reputation for their buying and selling success and boast a number of testimonials from satisfied clients. In an established firm, the responsibilities of building a customer base, marketing, hiring employees, maintaining cash flow, can be performed by any number of employees, but for a start-up business, you need to be at the top of your game.

There are many advantages to buying an existing business rather than setting up a new business. It is considered less risky than starting your own business. When you purchase an existing business, you also acquire valuable patents , trademarks or copyrights that take much time and money to develop.

Reasons for Buying an Existing Business

Here are a few reasons why buying an existing business is better than starting one:

• Most difficult start-up work has already been done.

• With an existing business, you are buying into a recognized brand with a track record, completely with all the trademarks, copyright, patents and websites associated with it. In simple terms, you get an established brand and reputation.

• The business already has plans and procedures in place.

• A market for the product or service will have already been demonstrated.

• Existing employees have experience you can draw from and further expand when you begin operations.

• Many of the business hurdles have been discovered and solved already.

• You will have an existing customer base, goodwill, and the required equipment or tools to execute your business operation.

• Taking over an established business means you will have financial freedom. In addition to this, you get an immediate revenue stream.

Advantages of Buying an Existing Business

There are different ways of becoming a business, and the easy way these days is to purchase an already existing business. Here are some advantages of buying an existing business:

1. Built infrastructure and customer base

One of the significant advantages of purchasing an existing business is the fact there is laid down infrastructure and existing customers. This will save you valuable time, hard work, and resources building up a business from scratch. An already established infrastructure enables you to focus your time on building and growing the business, which often has massive growth potential, rather than creating one anew. You would also avoid the headaches linked with establishing systems, purchasing equipment, and trying to establish a foothold in the marketplace. One of the many challenges and considerations of setting up a new business is setting up operational systems, but an existing business has its operational systems in place.

2. Proven Track Record

In an already operational business, the track record of its operations, sales, and financial performance exists. These could be a great insight into the firm’s strong and weak points and where improvements might be made. You can rightly judge its profitability, market position, and growth potential from this. You can have a chat with the previous owner, who is willing to share the marketing of the product or service rendered by the business.

3. Brand Reputation and Goodwill

One of the pros of buying an established business is that it comes with an already existing brand reputation and goodwill within the market. Because of this, customers already recognize and trust the brand, which means it will help the buyer retain their customer base and attract more customers.

The goodwill and reputation earned by the previous ownership can reduce the efforts you will have to make in marketing and promotion to establish some leads in the market, which ultimately provides an edge in establishing relationships with suppliers, customers, and others. This brand trust may result in customer loyalty, repeated patronage, and positive word-of-mouth publicity. This will show you the power of existing relationships in the business world.

Factors to Consider Before Buying an Existing Business

Undeniably, buying an existing business comes with varied advantages; however, when it comes to buying a business, you should take your time and self-assess yourself.

Identify your interests: Understand your skills, passions, and experiences. It boils down to the type of business you can be involved with.

Find a Business for Sale: Review online listings, business brokers, industry-specific periodicals, or network contacts to find a prospective match with your interests.

Due Diligence: Once you have a shortlist, focus more in-depth on the selected businesses. Go over their financial records, customer base, supplier contracts, and other vital documents.

Valuation: The value of the enterprise is to be determined through one or multiple of several business valuation approaches, including cash flow analysis, asset valuation, and industry multiplier techniques.

Negotiations: If the business shows great promise and its valuation seems appropriate, then negotiate terms of sale with its seller.

Get to Know

WebsiteClosers has been the market leader in buying and selling online businesses since 1998. With so much experience, they have earned a solid reputation for their buying and selling success and boast a number of testimonials from satisfied clients. They serve clients who are interested in either buying or selling an e-commerce business efficiently. If you’re interested in purchasing an online business, call them today at 800-251-1559 for more information.

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