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• Buy a business you like.
• Don't expect "traditional" financial information from the owner of a privately owned business.
• Tax returns of a privately owned business are prepared to show as little income for tax purposes as possible.
• You and the owner of the business should like each other.
• The right finance for the purchase could be borrowed, if not available.
• Don't pay yourself out of cash - you will need reserves.
• You must make an "offer" before you have seen all of the financial and other business records of the business you are interested in buying.

Many business buyers think the most important quality in a business is profitability. Certainly, you want a business that will have sufficient earnings to provide for you and your family, BUT you will risk making a terrible mistake if you do not BUY A BUSINESS YOU LIKE. If you do, you will spend long, miserable days in the business and will end up neglecting the business and selling it.

When you think about buying a business, think about what you like and do not like. If you are fix on a particular type of business, visualise yourself running the business. Visualise taking your friends and relatives to see your business. Do you like what you see? Will you be proud to own the business? If not, or if you are not sure, do not buy that type of business.