Convenience

Starting the New Business
The first step in starting a new business is the individual’s commitment to becoming
a business owner. Next comes choosing the goods or services to be offered—a pro-
cess that means investigating one’s chosen industry and market. Making this choice
also requires would-be entrepreneurs to assess not only industry trends but also their
own skills. Like the managers of existing businesses, new business owners must also
be sure that they understand the true nature of the enterprise in which they are
engaged.
Buying an Existing Business
After choosing a product and making sure that the
choice fits their own skills and interests, entrepreneurs must decide whether to buy an
existing business or to start from scratch. Consultants often recommend the first approach.
Quite simply, the odds are better: If successful, an existing business has already proved its
ability to draw customers at a profit. It has also established working relationships with len-
ders, suppliers, and the community. Moreover, the track record of an existing business
gives potential buyers a much clearer picture of what to expect than any estimate of a
new business’s prospects. Around 30 percent of the new businesses started in the past
142
Part 2:
Planning
Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
www.MyEbookNiche.eCrater.com

---

decade were bought from someone else. As another example, the McDonald’s empire was
started when Ray Kroc bought an existing hamburger business and then turned it into a
global phenomenon. Likewise, Starbucks was a struggling mail-order business when
Howard Schultz bought it and turned his attention to retail expansion.