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12. Don’t rely on only the good news. All businesses have problems and face vulnerabilities. Most businesses can live with them until they solve or avoid them. When the seller finishes telling you about the bright future, ask him to illuminate the dark side.
13. Don’t forget the most important question. What is the competitive advantage of this company and what are the dependable drivers that create customer demand for its product? From this question will come many others. Follow the string until its end to discover the truth about the business. Do this before you buy it.
14. Don’t ignore this truism. You can pay too much for a good business, but you can’t pay too little for a lousy one. These problems stem from defective acquisition techniques, not a lack of good businesses. Every year, thousands of business buyers buy the right business the right way.
Business Buying Don’ts and Business Buyer Advocate are trademarks of Ted J. Leverette.
Tough slog pays off for manufacturer
Snow Mauler poised to take over the world of airport snow removal
"This is the hardest thing we've ever done, by far," says Barry Smith. But he wouldn't have missed it for the world. He's describing the launch and growth of Airport Technologies Inc. (ATI), the business he started in 2002 with partners Larry Rushton and Garry Wright.
In a short four years, far sooner than they'd originally planned, the company has moved beyond the "re-lifing" of airport plow equipment to manufacturing and selling the production-ready Snow Mauler. Already, some in the industry are calling the revolutionary airport plow the best plow vehicle in the world.
Smith credits the company's success to a number of factors: the mutual understanding and solid relationship the partners share, which has allowed them to weather tough times; a ready supply of multi-talented and multi-skilled people with a tremendous work ethic; the opportunity to work with the Winnipeg Airport Authority in developing the plow; the participation of their landlords, Southport Aerospace Centre; and a whole lot of sweat equity.
While the business was almost exclusively financed by the partners, the Whitehorse Plains CFDC was also a great help with advice and networking, says Smith. "They made a small investment in the early stages, which provided us with some working capital, but a lot of the ways they can help you is not necessarily from a financial standpoint. They've been very helpful with respect to their business counsel."
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