Funding the Search
Determining how to fund your search process can have a significant impact while searching and afterward as a CEO and business owner. Over the past few decades, search has evolved in many ways, and in…
Is search right for you?
Searching almost sounds too good to be true! You want to be an entrepreneur, but have no "great idea". You have just completed your MBA and dread jumping back into what you did before school.…
When to Search?
Deciding when to start your search is one of the more significant decisions in your entrepreneurial life; be sure you get it right, as you may likely get only one chance. Search is not for…
Where to search from?
Choosing the geographic boundaries of your search has far-reaching implications on your tactics, fundraising, personal expenditures and even the perception of the sellers you may purchase from. Selecting a home base from which to work…
Choosing a search partner – or not!
After fully committing to a search, one of the next critical decision is whether to identify a partner for the journey, or to forge ahead as a solo searcher. Remember, you may be fully engaged…
Searching as a Couple
Husband-and-wife teams searching for, purchasing and then running a business, is a special variation on selecting a partner for a search. Searching with a partner is one of the key decisions a searcher must make…
Your significant other
The support you receive during your search will come not just from your investors, other searchers, personal friends, and advisors, but also from the "significant other" in your life, whether that be your spouse if…
Wearing the coat
Being a CEO early in your career is the most significant benefit of the search process. However, the reality of taking over the reins of an established business may not live up to your imagined…
Compensation
During your search, and once you are operating the business you have purchased, you should be "reasonably" compensated for your efforts. Certainly, not at the highest level of your friends in other careers, but enough…
Cost of searching
One of the key decisions in buying a business is how to pay your bills while you are searching for it. You will have search expenses, living expenses and perhaps some substantial personal debt to…