Starting out

December 08, 2025

by a searcher from University of Central Florida - College of Business Administration in Orlando, FL, USA

Hi I am currently 23 years old, studied finance at UCF, have small business with 20 employees (industry that I know) , I am thinking to getting into entrepreneur acquisition. There is couple things I am afraid of when buying other business. I need help on getting started to buy business, that's not in my industry. So when buying business, what do you do when you first come in, like what if the owner leave, and you don't know what to do. I guess the questions (you might think it is stupid) are - "How can you buy a business without first knowing the business?". - "Do you just go out and buy anything that profitable without need the knowledge at the first place?". Thank you anyone, who could help me answer these question

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Reply by a searcher
from University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL, USA

What a wonderful response. Thank you Franco ! Appreciate your time to response to my post and also answer my question. All your answers are very helpful. I was going to acquire home service businesses. but I was afraid that I don't have an acknowledge to acquire for those. I definitely gonna reach out to you and we can have a chat. Thank you very much.

Reply by a lender
from Cornell University in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hi ^redacted‌ - nice to meet you. These are completely valid questions. Many first-time buyers feel the same way, so you are asking the right things. I am going to answer your questions from an SBA standpoint. “How can you buy a business without first knowing the business?” You do not need to know every operational detail on day one, but you do need experience that translates. SBA lenders look for a reasonable connection between your background and the business you want to run. Management, operations, financial oversight, and leading a team all count. Typically sellers can also provide some transitional support up to 12 months so you can understand the day-to-day before they step away. “Do you just buy anything profitable without knowing it first?” No. Profitability alone is not enough. Before moving forward, you should research what it looks like to operate that specific business. What will your role be? What are the biggest headaches you might face? What drives revenue? What drives costs? What skills will you rely on every day? You want to understand the business well enough to know that you can realistically step into the operator role. SBA lenders also look at this. Some lenders are flexible if the business has strong cash flow, your liquidity is solid for both the down payment and post-close reserves, and your background reasonably supports the management responsibilities. In those cases, not having exact industry experience is not always a deal-killer. Overall, you do not need to be a technical expert, but you do need a clear and credible plan for how you will run the business. With the seller transition, proper due diligence, and the right match between your skills and the business model, many first-time buyers successfully acquire companies outside their original industry. We have a lot experience financing various companies via the SBA. If you ever need help talking through a deal, I am happy to help. We work with all the major SBA lenders. The bank pays us after your loan closes, so this is a 100% free service for you. You can email me directly at redacted or schedule a meeting with me: https://cal.com/francodeguzman/30min. Look forward to chatting!

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