Buying a Business

In the previous post, I may have glossed over how I came to the decision to buy Paper Bride and Paper Mama. While it was a quick gut reaction, I still did my due diligence and research. My mama didn't raise a fool.

Although I am someone who "goes with her gut", I also love to research. So I put a lot of thought into whether or not to buy this lil' company. Sure, my decision started with "I should buy this company!" but it was quickly followed by a lot of questions. Questions like "How can I buy this company?", "What does it mean to buy a company?", and many, many more. There is so much great information on buying a business out there. This article on Entrepreneur.com was the starting point for me.

Before asking Erica any questions, I asked myself some. Why do I want to buy this company? What are my financing options? Where can I take these brands? How would I market them? Once I did some loan research, sketched out product ideas and marketing strategies, I decided to contact Erica and ask her some questions.

Our first conversation proved my gut right. Erica and I hit it off and we shared the same vision for PaperBride and PaperMama. We talked about fun stuff (products, marketing strategies and bad reality TV) and serious stuff (inventory, finances, roadblocks). Afterward, I knew that I wanted to make Erica an offer she couldn't refuse. So it was time to talk to the Numbers Team.

I consulted with 2 lawyers, an accountant and a business manager (like a lawyer-accountant hybrid) to make sure this all made financial sense. Luckily, I worked for a business management company for almost 5 years so my consultations were all free. Even if you have to pay, this is a crucial step. My numbers team went over the figures (mine & Erica's), reviewed my tax options (LLC vs. S-Corp), and asked all the questions that I forgot to ask (copyrights, who knew?).

Armed with lots of information and a gut feeling, I made Erica an offer, and as they say, the rest was history.