Not everyone is an entrepreneur who loves building businesses from the ground up. Many of us are not afraid of putting in the work, but we just don’t know how to get started.
In the real world, you can find a business you like and apply for a job there. Or, if you’re already wealthy enough, you can find a business you like and offer to buy the business. With enough money, you can buy almost any business.
But just as when you start a new job you need to go through training, when you buy a business you need to learn how to run the business. In the real world, learning how to run a business typically involves talking with or shadowing the business owner about the daily responsibilities and processes.
What if you want to buy an online business?
There are many websites where you can buy online businesses. Two that come to mind are Flippa and Empire Flippers.
While these online business brokers offer a lot of information and tools for performing due diligence, it’s still difficult for an inexperienced entrepreneur to take over an old business and keep it running without a hitch.
I propose setting up an online business broker where as part of the terms of sale of any business on the site, the previous owner agrees to allow the new owner to shadow them online for at least a week to learn how to run the business. There should also be included step-by-step instructions for how to run the business. Adding this extra step should increase confidence for buyers and also allow for businesses to be sold for even higher prices.
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