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To Buy or to Start?

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Hey there entrepreneurs,

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Welcome to the Better Business Brief, where I share takeaways from:

• running businesses I’m building to sell for millions
• My advisory with other business owners building to sell for millions
• tips and tricks you can use to do the same

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One of the most common questions I get:
​“Should I start a business from scratch or buy one that already exists?”

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This week, I broke it down on DealFlow Live with my co-host Ryan.
It turned into a great conversation about risk, reward, time, and trajectory.

So today, in less than 5 minutes, I’ll give you: ​ 🤔 2 Big Misconceptions About Starting vs. Buying 📉 What Most People Get Wrong About Startup Risk 💼 Why Buying Isn’t Always Easier (and When It Is)

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As cliche as this is gonna sound… you just need to weigh the pros and cons of each option to make the right decision for you.

Here’s how Ryan and I talked through this stuff the other day:

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MISCONCEPTION #1 Starting a Business Is Cheaper and Safer

A lot of people think starting a business is “low risk” because you can do it with a small budget.

But that’s not the whole picture.
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You’re risking something way more valuable than money:
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Your time.

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Time spent figuring out your offer, finding product-market fit, experimenting with ads that don’t convert, or learning operations the hard way can take years and years.

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When you buy an established business, you're skipping the “will this even work?” stage.
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You're buying a proven model, with revenue, customers, and (hopefully) systems already in place.

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That doesn’t mean it’s risk-free. But the type of risk is different.

It’s not “what if this never makes money?”

It’s “can I grow this and keep it profitable?”

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MISCONCEPTION #2 Buying a Business Is Passive

This one drives me nuts.

I've lost count of how many times I've rolled my eyes when people tell me they wanna buy a business for the "passive income".​
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Buying a business doesn’t mean sitting back and collecting checks.

It almost always means stepping into chaos.

Especially if it’s underperforming.

And lots of cleaning said chaos up.
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You have to be ready to:

• Learn the team and rebuild trust
• Clean up bad data, bad processes, and bad habits
• Navigate legacy decisions that might not make sense anymore
• Dance around the resistance that comes from necessary change

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When we acquired our HVAC business recently, the first 2-3 months we spent with the team was mostly getting rid of major problems that were causing issues and preventing growth.

It was all hands on deck.

Seriously.

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If you think you won’t have to do much to make sure the lights stay on, you’re sorely mistaken.
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We’ve also had deals where the financials were solid on paper…
but culturally, it was a minefield.
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You’re not just buying profit. You’re buying the problems that come with that profit too.

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WHEN BUYING MAKES SENSE

If you’re great at execution, buying can fast-track your path.
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Instead of guessing your way to revenue, you’re starting with the momentum that’s already been built.

For example:
Let’s say you find a business doing $500K a year in profit.
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Even if you pay a 3x multiple, you’re making your money back in 3 years, if you run it well.

You might even get some growth if you’re smart about it.

And you could be clearing $500k+ in profit after it’s paid off.

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Compare that to building from scratch, where it might take 2–3 years just to make your first $100K in profit.

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You have to ask yourself:
​Do I want to climb a hill I know leads somewhere?​
Or
​Do I want to spend the next 2 years guessing if I’m even on the right hill?

If you’re still on the fence, here’s my advice:
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Go get reps helping someone else grow or fix a business before risking your own time or capital.
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It’ll give you the clearest view of what kind of risk you’re built for.

If you’re looking for deals or help evaluating opportunities, we’ve got a community of people doing exactly that every week where we support you on weekly calls.

​Join us here.​

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If you like these ideas or found this informative, stick around and subscribe. I do this newsletter every week.

If you did, share it with a friend who may too, as this is the best way for me to grow it and make this better.

They can even sign up here :)
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Happy value-building to you!

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See you next time for Better Business Brief,

-Brody