Starting or taking over a business?

Are you bitten by the entrepreneurial bug? Have you thought about taking over an existing business? It’s an equally exciting adventure with many advantages.

Is it better to create or to take over a company? Actoria takes stock of the advantages and risks inherent to the takeover. An option to be seriously considered by all those who wish to embark on the adventure of entrepreneurship.

Taking over a company: advantages and disadvantages

When you decide to take over an existing company, the advantages are obvious. You benefit from an established structure: the company is organized, it runs with employees already recruited and trained, it can count on the skills of its employees, on its customer base, on established agreements with suppliers and on efficient work tools.
The disadvantages, in fact, are much the same. You take over an established structure. With its culture, its rules, its protocols and a whole bunch of aspects that are sometimes difficult to change. The risk is also to take over a company covered with debts, with an aging work tool, obsolete products… Also, a fine analysis of all the documents is essential in order to buy a healthy company where the business opportunities are real.

Read also: Buying a company ? 5 tips to know

Taking over a company in the right way

1. The research

Ask your network and activate your sources of information to find companies in the process of being transferred: professional press, transfer experts, chambers of commerce, web portals, etc.

2. Meeting with a company

If you spot a company, contact its manager to meet with him/her. Take the time to visit the offices and the production tools in order to understand how the structure works. Take an interest in the mode of transmission envisaged:

• buying shares or taking over a business ?
• with what tax consequences?

3. The negotiation

Have a financial diagnosis done before discussing the terms of the takeover. You will have a better view of the value of the company, with its strengths and weaknesses. Seek the advice of a transfer expert to understand the methods of valuing the transferred company and to assist you in financing the project.

Read also: What financing for a business takeover?

4. After the recovery

The transition period after the transfer must also be prepared. Be very clear about what you expect from the seller after the takeover. Ask yourself how the transfer of knowledge will be organized, an essential criterion for the success of your project.

Taking over an existing company requires both strategy and specific legal knowledge. For your project, ask for the expertise of Actoria, specialist in business transfer for more than 25 years.