Book Review: “HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business” by Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

If you’re thinking about making the move from corporate life to starting your own business, this is definitely worth a read. Just over 20% of new businesses don’t make it past the first twelve months. Buying a business can bring instant customers, cash flow and product/service infrastructure that starting from scratch doesn’t.

What We Love About This Book

It’s very non-HBR. The print is really big, it’s written in very plain English, and still manages to cover all the important technical points to consider. We would suggest that not only is it a great guide for people looking at buying a business, but it’s great when you’re to start acquiring additional businesses.

It’s also a great read to understand the key points to consider when trying to sell your business, particularly if the business is relatively small and your buyer might use the SBA program or ask you to do seller financing.

Also does a nice job of breaking down the math of how working at your job, starting a business from scratch and buying a business might play out for you financially over a 12 month period.

Any criticisms?

You do need to be ready to learn and embrace language like EBITDA, debt, equity, due diligence, etc. The book does a nice job of explaining everything along the way for the non-accounting people, but you’re still going to be learning some technical accounting and finance terms. This isn’t a marketing book – it’s about how to identify and close on the right small business deal.