Buying a Business in Bad Times Can Be Good

Several months ago a diner in my hometown was purchased by the owner of another highly successful restaurant in a neighboring county. “It was an opportunity that was thrown in front of me” the buyer told the local media calling it an offer he just couldn’t pass up.

Plenty of small businesses are operating in survival mode these days: cutting costs scratching for capital hoping they can hold out for better times. And then there are those like that local diner. Or Lansinoh Laboratories in Alexandria Virginia a marketer of topical ointments breast pumps and other goods for nursing mothers and their babies. Lansinoh is doing so well that it recently paid cash to acquire a new line of products from one of its competitors.

Even bad economies harbor pockets of opportunity. If your company has been able to withstand the downturn and has cash or outstanding credit you may be looking at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow by acquiring another business at a bargain price. It could be a direct competitor one whose activities complement the products or services you already provide or one that simply extends your geographic reach.