Bad Buy a Business Advice Experts Repeat.

When you are buying a business, you will seek advice from others.  There are some common pieces of advice, often repeated many times, that I see and hear from self-styled experts in business.  These experts are people that spend lot of time key board tapping, but not much in the way of actual business doing. They are wrong.  If you follow their advice you will increase your chance of failure. 

Here they are.  5 of the worst pieces of advice that are regularly put forward by experts.  Ignore them and you will do better, and I’ll tell you why.

Number 1:  Everyone should own a business.    

Nope.  Its not for everyone. 

Operating a business is not for the fainthearted. You’ve got to give it 100% and then more. For a business to succeed an owner has got to be passionate, focused and resilient. Is that you?

Some people are simply not cut out to be a business owner. Running your own business can mean long, unpredictable days, with little respite until you start to make a profit.

To be successful you’ve got to be organised, disciplined, and not afraid to make decisions. You need to be receptive to new ideas, be able to remain calm under stress, have the ability to delegate and inspire staff and take responsibility for your own actions.

Remember, when you’re the boss, the buck stops with you.  Its your money and your business.  You need to own it.  Literally.

Most people don’t have what it takes and will be far better off getting a job.

Number 2:  Innovation and a great idea is the key to business success. 

Nope.  You don’t need a new idea or innovation in a business.

Great ideas are great ideas because very few people think of them.  Sure, they will often succeed, but how many business owners have truly great ideas? 

Why try to find a new “something” to take on a new market that you are not even sure is there?  There are plenty of people who had smart new ideas for products and services that no-one actually wanted.  You can fail because you are too different.  Too new.

Buy a business doing something people are already doing.  Just make sure to do it just that little bit better than anyone else and people will come to you because you are better than the rest.

Number 3:  The overnight, guaranteed program to success, selling online or share trading etc. 

Nope. Yes, I know.  Social media is always showing overnight success stories and running stories of some-one who made a million dollars doing almost nothing on their computer in their bedroom.

They are usually just click bait stories designed for you to click on so you can buy into their scheme and make them more money.  Getting rich quick isn’t possible for most people.

The best, simplest and most successful way to get rich is to do it slowly.  Over time.  You will have to do the same little things every day to build your wealth.  Wealth will grow little by little at first and then exponentially.   This works.  It’s a well proven strategy used by millions of people.  Its not showy, flashy or worthy of a media report.  But it works.  Start now.  Buy a proven business.

Number 4:  You have to be smart to get rich. 

Nope.  You don’t have to have a business degree from prestigious universities, or be top of the class or have an envious IQ. 

The key to success isn’t being smart or possessing a higher degree of intelligence.  Its being just smart enough to understand that you need more money coming in, than going out.  That’s called making a profit. 

Making a profit and growing a business requires selling, revenue, cash coming in, and less cash going out.  In other words, sales.  I am yet to see any business that doesnt grow, make money and become successful as their sales grow and profits rise. 

Make sure you are running your business profitably.  Concentrate on sales and making a profit and everything else will follow. 

Number 5:  Work with bad employees to help them improve. 

Nope.  Bad employees don't change.  Get rid of them.   

You can do huge damage to your business by trying to help people who refuse to help themselves.  All you do is allow the problem to grow and it will negatively affect your great employees as they have to deal with incompetent or lazy co-workers around them.

Recruit your people to fit your culture. Not the other way around.  Skills to do the job are fine, but it is essential to gauge their emotional skills and capacity to care about the job, the business and the people around them. You can teach people technical skills, but you can’t teach them to care.

Buy a business, have fun and enjoy it. Yes, it can be hard at first, but get it right and it is probably the most rewarding thing you will ever do.