Buy something that already works
You can buy a business that already has customers, revenue and staff instead of spending years building one. Almost nobody leaving the military knows it is available to them.
What people get wrong
- Myth
“Only rich people buy businesses.”
An SBA-backed loan can fund much of a purchase. You still put in a down payment, usually at least a tenth of the total, and pay advisers. Your lender confirms the current rules for your deal.
- Myth
“Owners only sell businesses that are failing.”
Plenty of good businesses sell because the owner wants to retire. Checking the books is how you find out which kind you are looking at.
- Myth
“You need to have run a business before.”
You need to be able to read one, and running a P&L is learnable. Taking over an organization, keeping what works and fixing what does not is the actual job. If you have led a unit you inherited, you have done that once already.
- Myth
“It is the same as starting one.”
You are buying customers, staff and a revenue history you can inspect before you commit. Less risk that nobody wants it, more risk in what the seller did not tell you.
It is the most complex path of the six, and it needs advisers you do not have yet: a transaction attorney, a CPA who has checked a seller’s earnings before, and an SBA lender who closes acquisitions regularly. That team is not optional and it is not free.
Who it fits
- You have an income floor, like a pension, VA compensation or a spouse’s salary, that carries your household.
- You have led people and run a budget, ideally a P&L.
- You have $25K or more you could put in, and good credit.
- You would rather inherit something that works than start from zero.
Probably not your first move if
- You have under $25K you could put in. Buying a business takes a down payment and cash to carry it.
- You have not run a P&L yet. That is buildable, but build it first.
- You never want to manage people again. A business with staff means managing people.
The assessment checks these against your own numbers.
What it takes
- Money
- A down payment, adviser fees and working capital. An SBA-backed loan usually covers much of the rest.
- Time
- Months of searching and checking before you own anything. Full-time once you do.
- Skills
- Reading financial statements. Leading a team you inherited. Negotiating with a seller who knows more than you do.
How veterans get there
SBA 7(a) loans
The usual route for buying a small business. Read the SBA’s program page, then ask a lender who closes acquisitions what it covers for your deal.
Free counseling first
Your local Veterans Business Outreach Center or Small Business Development Center counsels for free. Book it before you make an offer.
The team before the offer
A transaction attorney, a CPA to check the earnings and an SBA lender, named and briefed before you sign a letter of intent.
Your first three steps
Look at one business listed for sale in your area and read what it actually earns.
Learn what SBA 7(a) covers for an acquisition — free to read, and it is the usual route.
Find one person who has bought a business and ask them what surprised them.
Where does this rank for you?
The assessment ranks all six paths on your answers: your income floor, runway, capital, credit and what you want from the work. Free, about seven minutes, and no email needed to see your result.
Choose this path on your results and the plan we email you leads with it, along with its guide: a 30-day plan, the numbers to know and the mistakes to avoid.
Take the assessment →Educational, not financial, legal or tax advice. Where a decision needs a lender, a CPA, an attorney or the VA, take it to them.