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  • 2017
  • Book

HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

Find, acquire, and run your own business. Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own start-up seem too risky? There is a radical third path open to you: you can buy a small business and run it as CEO. Purchasing a small company offers significant financial rewards—as well as personal and professional fulfillment. Leading a firm means you can be your own boss, put your executive skills to work, fashion a company environment that meets your own needs, and profit directly from your success. But finding the right business to buy and closing the deal isn't always easy. In the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business, we help you: determine if this path is right for you, raise capital for your acquisition, find and evaluate the right prospects, avoid the pitfalls that could derail your search, understand why a "dull" business might be the best investment, negotiate a potential deal with the seller, and avoid deals that fall through at the last minute.

Keywords

Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurs; Small Companies; Small Business Finance; Negotiation; Due Diligence; Sourcing; Search Funds; Search; Deal Sourcing; Deal Structuring; Funnel; Debt Financing; Small And Medium Enterprises; Small Business; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Deal; Ownership; Equity; Borrowing and Debt

Citation

Ruback, Richard S., and Royce Yudkoff. HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company. Harvard Business Review Press, 2017.
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About The Authors

Richard S. Ruback

Finance
→More Publications

Royce G. Yudkoff

Finance
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More from the Authors

    • January 2023
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    Lupoli Companies: Riverwalk - Making an Impact

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    • December 2022
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    Managing Pain in the Midst of an Opioid Epidemic

    By: Joshua D. Coval, Richard S. Ruback and Christopher Diak
    • November 2022
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    Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition: Brian's Journey

    By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Sarah Livick-Moses
More from the Authors
  • Lupoli Companies: Riverwalk - Making an Impact By: Richard S. Ruback, Marco Di Maggio, Dave Habeeb and Ruth Page
  • Managing Pain in the Midst of an Opioid Epidemic By: Joshua D. Coval, Richard S. Ruback and Christopher Diak
  • Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition: Brian's Journey By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Sarah Livick-Moses
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