What Business?

[Barquentine]

If someone has a good amount of savings and would like to purchase a business, how do you go about deciding what business to buy? I need a way to compare what profits various types of business generate on average and what salary I could afford to pay myself.
I suppose what I am asking is what businesses have the best profit margins on average - where would I find this info? I know it 'depends' on so many factors - but how do you compare a newsagents/hairdressers/cafe/sandwich bar/hardware store/dry cleaners/florists etc?

[Zacs-Master]

What so you have a passion for ( besides making money). To run a successful business you have to like what you do.

[pixie373]

Agree with Zacs completely

[FredPuli43]

And, years ago, Barclays Bank advising people on starting in business, said that their experience was that every business in a street made the same sort of profit. That remains true. You get odd circumstances when one business does better; that was true of opticians, for example; but, in time, these blips disappear, as it did with opticians.

You should only be in a business, as with being in a job, because you love that business. You'll be working 24/7 to get it going, so you'd better!

[pixie373]

Have you looked into franchises?

[Barquentine]

Thanks for all three answers - excellent advice. I didn't know that about Barclays' report. I agree - it must be something that inspires. I have to go to bed hardly able to wait to get started again the next morning. I suppose if you have good ideas for increasing turnover and cutting costs then that's key to getting paid more.

[FredPuli43]

Costs are key; the old story of Sir Philip Green taking over a chain of shops is relevant. His first act was to ask what the shops were spending on coat hangers, and then tear up the supplier's contract !. And so are assets. You may find, if you take one over, that the business has assets which are both undervalued and not being used properly; in extreme cases you may get termed an asset stripper, but that never did Lord Hanson any harm! Increasing turnover may not require much imagination; one man took over a garage and petrol station and doubled the turnover in petrol at a stroke, simply by making the drive in to it longer and easier. The previous owners had never thought of that.