When Buying a Business Feels Like Christmas
March 18, 2021
Do you think you need a business degree or business experience to become an online entrepreneur?
Think again.
Renae Christine proves that if you’ve got passion and enthusiasm, you can do almost anything, especially if you’ve got a little bit of help.
Before Renae started her first business, she had been editor in chief of a weekly Las Vegas newspaper. This role seemed like an ideal fit because it paired well with her bachelor’s degree in journalism. There was one problem, though…
Renae was a new mom with a two-year-old at home, and she didn’t like being away from her child for the bulk of the day. She decided to take matters into her own hands, and started her own web design firm.
The First Foray into Entrepreneurship
As most solopreneurs discover, there are only so many hours in a day, and you reach capacity pretty quickly. Renae wanted to expand, but she didn’t know how to do it. Granted, this is a great problem to have, but short of cloning herself, Renae was in a tough spot.
Then came the lightbulb moment. Renae came to the logical conclusion that buying an existing business could help her scale. Having an income-producing, ready-made business would solve the problem of allowing her to bring in more revenue without adding more working hours to her day. The next step was figuring out where to go to make the acquisition.
After doing her research, Renae found a company to buy from a different marketplace. There’s frustration in her tone when she says, “It hadn’t been vetted very well, and there were problems with it. I couldn’t really use it or get it going or get it to scale.”
Learning from Experience
Despite the initial setback, Renae was ready to give it another go. She browsed the Empire Flippers marketplace, and but she was wary of moving too quickly. It took two years of diligent searching, but she finally found a business to buy that was right for her. “The second that I saw this business, I was like, ‘this is it.’”
Naturally, Renae wanted to make sure that she wasn’t thrust into another dead-end business that drained her investment. With eyes wide open, she began working with our team on the acquisition.
“I discovered right away how detailed they were in making sure that the business was ready to be acquired.” She continues, “It’s almost like it was tied up in a little bow.”
Make vs. Buy – How to Decide
Now that Renae is a veteran online business owner, she has a lot to share about her experience, including some unique pearls of wisdom about the differences between building a business from scratch and buying one that’s already profitable.
“When you build a business, you can get tired of that business. You love it, but it’s almost like raising a kid,” she says with a laugh. She contrasts this to purchasing a business. “With purchasing a business, it’s fresh – it’s like Christmas! Not only is it already bringing in money, but you can use your expertise to scale it.”
She also points out that it’s okay if you don’t want to scale your business. You can buy it “as-is” and let it run on autopilot, or you can grow and evolve it. Having the choice is empowering.
Renae traveled outside of her comfort zone in her acquisition from our marketplace. The business industry, target market, and even the business model strayed from what she was used to, but Renae took it in stride, and turned her acquisition into a learning experience.
She concluded that she could take this new knowledge and start another business if she wanted, while knowing exactly what to do. “It’s like getting a college degree instantly instead of spending years building.”
Words of Wisdom for Her Past Self
Over the past couple of years, Renae has learned a lot! She reflects on what she would do differently if she had the knowledge and wisdom back then that she has now.
“If I could go back in time and talk to myself two years ago, I would be like, ‘please just buy something!’” She continues, “There’s no other company that compares to Empire Flippers. I don’t consider there even being a competitor for Empire Flippers. They vet everything so perfectly. They are worth the price.”
Alas, there’s no time machine, but Renae has no regrets. When talking about her lifestyle today, she says, “My stress levels have gone down tremendously.”
She compares the difference in building a business that requires day-to-day work to the online business that she purchased from us.
“I have an asset that I can hand down now, and it doesn’t require myself to be in on it.” This is a dramatic shift from her first business venture in web design, where she had to be involved in every step of the process.
“When I saw Empire Flippers, I thought it was a dream come true. They vet all their businesses in great detail, and package them into an automated business in a box. I can just buy it, and it makes money! I don’t have to put a lot of time and effort into it.”
Renae’s enthusiasm is contagious, and her journalism background shows when she uses color analogies to illustrate her point. For example, she compares buying a business and diversifying income streams to buying candy. “It would be like picking out chocolate – I want some of that, and some of that, and some of that,” pointing to businesses like they’re on display in a case.
Now, the question for you is, what kind of chocolate is your favorite?
Schedule a buyers’ criteria call with one of our business analysts to be notified when the potentially perfect opportunity becomes available on our marketplace.
