For me, it all comes down to what you’re willing to pour into the journey. I’ve built businesses from scratch and bought others, making and losing money on both paths. The key to it all? Action. Not reckless leaps, but smart moves based on what the data tells you. When I act, things start moving, and the pressure eases up. One lesson I’ve picked up along the way is about the people you work with. Some expect you to do all the heavy lifting—build the business, close the deal, everything—yet when you ask if they’ll put cash on the table, they vanish. Others act like they’ve got all the answers but won’t sit down to mastermind and solve the tough problems you’re facing. Whether building or buying, you need a team that’s all in—people who’ll collaborate and bring real value to the table. As you can probably tell by now, I like to write as you might have seen in my other posts. So when I decided to become an author to help people, I was intimidated when I wrote my first book, daunted by all the “experts.” But I just did it—took action—and ended up with a bestseller and more books after that. Business is no different: act, learn, and build a team to scale. I’m humble enough to admit I don’t know everything, but I can figure it out. As Zig Ziglar said, “If you help enough people get what they want, you can get what you want.” Whether building or buying, focus on solving real problems. Building gives you freedom to create but takes grit. Buying can jumpstart revenue but brings its own risks. This thread’s got me pumped—maybe it’s time for another startup while I search for the right acquisition. What’s driven your choice to build or buy, and how do you handle partners or advisors who don’t step up?

I agree. Searching, communicating w/ sellers and doing due diligence is time consuming so I've decided on a hybrid approach of building and buying but I'm in web development so it's a bit easier to start from scratch. Just depends on the industry,funds and time you have available.