Buying a business

There are good businesses to buy and not so good businesses. How do you know the difference?1) The quality of the financial records. The more accurate the tax returns, the less risk in a purchase. Hint: Make certain the tax returns provided to you are the tax returns that were actually filed with the IRS, ask for a IRS form 8506 signed so you can check. 2) Why is the seller selling? Does the reason pass the smell test? Is the seller “burned out” if so, why?3) Don’t assume you can run the biz better than the seller! Maybe you can and maybe you can’t. Do your homework, move thru the process quickly and ask questions (even if you’re worried about the answer).