Is It Better To Start Or Buy A Business??
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Start your own biz OR buy an existing one??
I was having this exact convo with a buddy of mine the other day.
He’s a start up focused entrepreneur. Hasn’t ever ventured into the ETA world.
His take is “why should I buy a business when I can jus restart one myself without spending as much money?”
I get that, I totally do. But as an entrepreneur who’s player on both sides of the fence, here’s my take:
Being versed in start ups AND acquisitions will make you a much more well rounded and capable entrepreneur.
From your start up experience, you’ll know how to stay lean, validate ideas, acquire customers, retain them, pivot rapidly, SELL, hire and fire, use tech to your advantage.
You’ll also have resilience and thick skin since you’ve probably failed 50+ times already yet you’re still getting back up.
You can take all this into the acquisition world. But there’s a time and place where ETA is much more optimal.
With ETA, if you do this right, you’re already buying an existing client base. You’re buying a reputation. You’ll already have reviews and relationships that will support the early transition time of the acquisition.
THEN you can bring in all your start up expertise and grow.
As an ETA, you learn to read the numbers. Notice trends in industries and the opportunities that others don’t see. You learn to manage people, become a leader, be decisive, think about the big picture and get really creative with financing.
Having the experience in just one of these areas is awesome, but I believe a truly well rounded entrepreneur has experience in both.
Thoughts?