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EXCELLENCE
Excellence Business
EXCELLENCE BUSINESS

Buy a Business or a Franchise

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LEVEL 1 · 0/3LEVEL 2 · 0/3LEVEL 3 · 0/3LEVEL 4 · 0/3LEVEL 5 · 0/3START
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The other road to entrepreneurship: choose between franchising and buying, read a franchise disclosure document and call former owners, value a business on real earnings, check it can carry the loan, investigate before you sign, inherit the team properly, avoid the winner's curse, and plan the handover, from the SBA, the FTC, the IRS and the research.

3h5 constellations
AT THE SUMMIT, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO

01Choose between franchising, buying and starting, for your money and skills

02Check a franchise through its disclosure document and its former owners

03Value a business and test whether it can carry the loan

04Investigate, negotiate with a walk-away price, and plan the handover

Every lesson of Buy a Business or a Franchise

15 lessons in 5 levels, about 3 hours. Level 1 is free.

Level 1Build, Buy or Franchise?Free · 3 lessons
  1. Three ways to own a businessCompare starting, buying and franchising, and the questions to ask first.11 min
  2. Is a franchise safer?Test the “franchises are safer” pitch against the evidence.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: choose your routeMatch a route to your money, skills and appetite for control.12 min
Level 2Check a FranchiseMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Read the disclosure documentKnow which parts of a franchise disclosure document to read first.12 min
  2. Call the ownersGet the truth about a franchise from the people who ran one.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: the franchise mathModel a franchise's profit after royalties, fees and your loan.12 min
Level 3Find and Value a BusinessMembership · 3 lessons
  1. The searchSet search criteria, and expect the search to take many months.12 min
  2. What's it worth?Value a business on reliable earnings and the return you need.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: can it pay for itself?Check that a business can pay you, and its loan, with room to spare.12 min
Level 4Due DiligenceMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Check before you signKnow what to investigate before buying, and the red flags.12 min
  2. The people come with itKnow how employees transfer when a business changes hands.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: don't overpayGuard against the winner's curse and your own overconfidence.12 min
Level 5The Deal and the HandoverMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Shares or assets?Know the two basic ways to buy a company, and what each brings with it.12 min
  2. Take over like a professionalUse the succession evidence to plan a handover that keeps the business strong.12 min
  3. Capstone: your acquisition planPull the path into one plan you could take to an adviser.13 min
FREE

Level 1 is open.

Membership opens every other level of this path.

See membership
AFTER THE CORE

Keep going where this path leads.

Business Finance & Cash FlowRead the accounts you're buying · 3h 29m
Run a Small Business That LastsWhat to do once it's yours · 2h 57m