If you're looking at a business to buy, and want to be able to tell if the seller is holding back "bad" information from you about the business, then this article will show you how to identify when this happens and exactly how to deal with it so you come out on top.
First of all, and this may sound simplistic, if you stay away from turnaround dogs and sleazy sellers (and your gut level will tell you that if you listen to it) and if you are looking at a good business, making a good profit, the seller is very glad to tell you exactly what hes doing.
In fact, nine times out of ten hes going to be bragging about it.
The only ones that hide things from you are the flakey ones that own a restaurant, for example, and tell you wild stories about the "skim" they have -- and that sort of thing. But as soon as you run into somebody like that, what you should do is walk away. No arguing, no negotiating, no trying to "coax" information out of them. It's a waste of your time.
And besides, I can tell you from 50 years of buying businesses and dealing with all kinds of different people, the average person is going to give you all the information you want and need. Not getting the information is actually the exception...not the rule.
If you're really worried about this just go out and look at a couple of businesses as if youre going to buy them and see what happens. What youre going to find is the average seller is a nice person to work with and is going to treat you very well...because he or she who has the cash does the talking. And youre going to find them very willing to give you all the information you want. |
