HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business

Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company (HBR Guide Series)

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff

Narrated by: Brian Holsopple

Think big, buy small.

Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own start-up seem too risky? There is a radical third path open to you: You can buy a small business and run it as CEO. Purchasing a small company offers significant financial rewards—as well as personal and professional fulfillment. Leading a firm means you can be your own boss, put your executive skills to work, fashion a company environment that meets your own needs, and profit directly from your success.

But finding the right business to buy and closing the deal isn't always easy. In the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business, Harvard Business School professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff help you determine if this path is right for you; raise capital for your acquisition; find and evaluate the right prospects; avoid the pitfalls that could derail your search; understand why a "dull" business might be the best investment; negotiate a potential deal with the seller; and avoid deals that fall through at the last minute.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation (P)2024 Ascent Audio

Very efficient written book about entrepreneurship through acquisition

The book has many of the details to consider good stories and sense of completeness that I
appreciate

Practical, straightforward and thorough

This book is super practical and doesn’t go around in circles or tangents. Hits right in the head about how to search for, prospect and buy a small business. It doesn’t try to sell the opportunity as a get rich quick scheme, but it’s rather very transparent about the possible rewards and possible risks. Great to listen to when sitting down, driving or even working out!

Excellent work

Great book. Almost checklist for MATT. Interesting to see something so logical and well laid out released as late as 2017. You would think it would’ve been a much older book.

It’s a good introduction to entrepreneurship the acquisition

This book is a great resource if you are new to the M&A/entrepreneurship through acquisition space. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who has been involved in the space for a while.

Great information and insights

Great step by step instructions on how to by a small business. The financial part might be a bit depressing to some people but it’s still an extremely worthwhile listen!