There's a strong case to be made for considering the advantages of buying a boring business. These seemingly unexciting ventures might not capture headlines, but they often come with a host of benefits that make them an attractive choice for startup founders.
In this article, we'll explore why buying a boring business can be a smart move and where to find these hidden opportunities.
Choosing to buy an existing business instead of building one from scratch offers some compelling benefits:
Save Time in Development: Purchasing an existing boring business can save you significant time in terms of development. Starting a business from scratch involves coming up an idea, developing products or services, setting up operations, and building a customer base. When you buy an established business, these foundational steps are already in place. You can skip the time-consuming process of building everything from the ground up and focus on refining and growing the existing business.
Save Time on Market Validation: Market validation is a crucial step in ensuring that there is demand for your products or services. Buying a boring business that already has a customer base provides you with instant market validation. The business's track record and existing customers demonstrate that there is a market need for what it offers. This saves you the time and effort required to test the waters to determine if there's demand for your offerings. Instead, you can focus on optimizing and expanding the business based on the existing market validation.
If you're intrigued by the concept of purchasing a boring business, you'll find that there are specialized platforms designed to connect buyers with these unique opportunities. Here are some websites that can help you discover and acquire these reliable yet understated ventures:
Acquire: Acquire offers a platform for buying established businesses across various industries. Their listings often include businesses with proven track records and potential for growth.
Empire Flippers: Empire Flippers specializes in online businesses and websites. They provide a marketplace where you can find websites, e-commerce stores, and other online ventures for sale.
FE International: FE International focuses on the sale of internet businesses, including e-commerce, SaaS, and content websites. They offer a curated selection of businesses with detailed financial information.
Flippa: Flippa is a popular platform for buying and selling a wide range of online businesses, domains, and mobile apps. It caters to various budget levels and business types.
Microns: Microns provides a platform for purchasing micro-SaaS businesses. These are small, niche-specific software-as-a-service businesses that can offer unique opportunities for growth.
SaaSquare: SaaS Square provides a marketplace for micro-sized Cloud and AI projects.
Buy Sell Startups: Buy Sell Startups is a marketplace for buying and selling startups with no commission.
Tiny Startups: Tiny Startups is a newsletter that curates successful startups, you can also explore opportunities to buy and sell startups here.
These websites offer a diverse array of businesses for sale, making it easier to find a boring business that aligns with your interests, skills, and goals. Before making a purchase, be sure to thoroughly research and evaluate each opportunity to ensure it's the right fit for you.
In conclusion, buying an existing business offers a shortcut to success by leveraging existing assets and proven strategies, allowing you to focus on growth and expansion rather than the initial setup phase. However, it's important to note that purchasing a business doesn't guarantee automatic success. Just like starting a business from scratch, buying a business comes with its own set of challenges and risks. Your active involvement and ability to market the purchaed business will play a significant role in shaping the success of the acquired business.