To think you can buy a business without having much prior knowledge about how it works

[Wetbankhols]

DH says you can't, but if the business is already running, surely you can?

being extremely good at providing care and being extremely good at managing and directing others to provide care are two different things.

a lot of people fall into the trap of thinking that running a business is easy. they see others doing it and think that it looks a doddle. well it isn't.

you will work many more hours self employed and running your own company than you ever did when you were employed.

you get experience by going out and getting it. perhaps you are the sort of person that could run a successful business, I don't know. and you wont know that until you run your own business. however, if you want to give yourself the best chance at success then you need to really look at yourself and your skills because you are, or you will become, the business. not the staff or the managers, you.

again I don't know how many people you have managed in the past and to what level because you wont say.

do you have basic gcse maths and English skills? if not then start with these first. if you do, then think about the other skills that you don't have and what courses you could do to get them.

can you go and work in a management job in the industry somewhere else for a year just so you see the other side of the business not the care giving bit?

the problem is that many people rush in to buying businesses. they don't ask the basic questions - already covered by other posters like why is the business being sold, what are the figures really telling you, what are the liabilities etc. they also think that the business will run itself and then the key manager leaves and they are stuffed. or people under perform and they don't know how to do staff appraisals. or the law changes and they don't comply.

once you get involved with this business, you will get sucked into it. you will consider re-mortgaging your house to keep it going. you will take out loans and you could get yourself and family into horrible debt.

get all the information and support that you can. get as much detailed training as you can. then buy the business and start running it. a bit of internet research, an accountants report and an nvq isn't going to cut it I am afraid.

message me if you want me to send you info on trade associations etc. very happy to help.

Do you have an all consuming passion for the core activity?

According to some management theories (and the way that government ministers switch departments) you can just view a business as a 'sausage machine' and turn the handle from the top so money comes out the bottom. In reality, this doesn't work.

A service based business has fairly straightforward costs:
Staff,
Rent,
Car Expenses,
Insurance,
Uniforms
Other products

So, it is really all about utilisation of labour.

If you are reasonably numerate, organised, and have 'sharp pencils' when agreeing prices, there is no reason why you cannot cope with the admin of this type of work.

Who is your customer - if it is generally just 'the state' in various forms, you will always be subject to the vagaries of the government of the day. Not that that is a problem - but it is a big risk factor in your planning.

As part of your due dilligence, check ongoing contracts that the business has - even things like photocopier rental can be hard to stop if business turns down.

If this is really what you want to do with your life 24/7 then go for it. Alternatively, if you just want to 'manage' your own business there could be other types of options.

I am a qualified accountant - but I am not sure that you really need a generic 'business NVQ' to be succesful. Most accountants can keep a business going on a caretaking basis - but many don't have that entrepreneurial risk taking 'spark' to actually take the business forward in big leaps.

About where the necessary experience might come from ... have you considered working as a deputy manager for a while before finally taking it on yourself?

I was also going to mention shadowing someone who does it, but you said you "can't just do that". Admittedly it might take a bit of persuasion - a management skill in itself - but I'm wondering why you feel that way?

And how are you with assertiveness, which believe me you'd need in spades as the person who carries the can? When things go wrong, do you have the skills to work through it and take ownership, or would some extra training in that area help?

So many ideas, but maybe tell us more about what you've done to develop your experience, or what you're already plan to do apart from the NVQ?

"Already planned to do ..." Sorry

Are you currently working at the home care agency? If so then remember to factor in the shifting relationships and statuses as management changes. People that are very pleasant and hard working may feel very differently when a peer (or junior) is now their boss. The hierarchy will change, and cause ripples through personnel in unexpected ways.

Don't assume everything and everybody will stay the same, or function as a team in a productive dynamic. There will be lots of hidden dynamics at work beyond your rise to the helm. Especially if you are 'one of the team' vs a manager / senior staff.

I'm not totally sure I agree though, topcat - I mean, yes, it's something I care enormously about but at the same time, who really has an all consuming passion for a kebab shop or similar!? Obviously I am being a bit facetious there.

I imagine I would need a good accountant, hopefully the company will already have one, if not i'll ask around. Contracts for staff. Registering with HMRC.

Running a kebab shop is somewhat simpler than running a care agency!

Decision making on schedules, procedure, quality standards in workers and products, priorities and ethics all have a direct bearing on the quality of life, and length of life of another human being.

If a shop owner doesn't care about kebabs, a customer might have a bad tasting kebab.

If a home care agency owner doesn't care about (elderly or disabled) people, a human ends up lying in their own faeces for days, or trips trying to do something which a carer didn't do, and dies.

Kind of different yes?

But as you are in the care industry and say you do a good job, you already know that, right?

The point I am making is you don't have to have a "passion" - you have to care and have an interest.

wrong wetbankhols sorry but you are so wrong. you DO absolutely have to have a passion for what you do. its what keeps you working on quotes for work until 2am. its what gets you out of bed at stupid oclock to deal with a problem.

caring and being interested isn't enough, it really isn't.

don't use the current company accountant. bring in your own to look at and "test" the books before you buy.

have you done a swot analysis on your skills? where are the gaps?

you are dealing with peoples lives and you need to be completely aware that if this business goes tits up you will be the one on the front page of the daily mail and not the manager.

what size is the business you are thinking of buying? nos of employees? turnover gross and net roughly? if it is a substantial size business then you would be diving right in at the deep end so make sure you have a life raft before you do.

Mummy, I'm absolutely not being horrible here, but you're speaking to me as if I am a naughty ten year old.

if you have to ask then you have no business going into business

Yes, because everyone knows everything before they even think about doing something, don't they?

I just think it might be a nice little earner and I feel keen and excited about it for the first in a while. I can be pretty determined about stuff :)

Now if I had BOUGHT the business then asked on here ... I would see your point!

I am not speaking to you like a naughty 10 year old. you asked for advice about running a business, I have been running one for 10+ years and thought that some of what I said might actually be useful to you. I had hoped that I and other posters were helping you to re-adjust the rose tinted glasses that you/me/everyone has before they go into business.

" a nice little earner" - all businesses can be if properly managed of course. but don't go into them thinking that they are.

being determined is no substitute for knowledge. you don't want to discuss your past employment knowledge, management experience etc which is up to you obviously.

You are taking on an established business with staff who will be depending on you so that they can pay their mortgages. its serious.

You don't have to give out any information if you don't want to. this is a forum not an interview. Since you feel I am talking down to you I will shut up. I hope you don't feel the same about your accountant or staff when they start telling you things you don't want to hear or asking you questions you don't want to answer. still at the end of the day its your money.

You need to appreciate though that I don't know the answer to a lot of your questions yet.

I would hope my accountant wouldn't tell me I am "wrong, very wrong" just imagining the finger wagging! and tbh if he did I'd find another accountant

yep wetbankhols I bet you will sack your accountant because lets be fair, people just shouldn't be blunt should they. public sector background?

and another manager who disagrees with you. you could sack them too.

sorry you don't see honesty as important. I do so I tell it like I see it. no actually, I have toned down some of my responses.

of course you don't know the answers to everything yet. I and others have just been suggesting what you need to have the answers to.

I don't wag my finger. I just get on with running my business and making sure my staff stay employed, we make a profit and I operate within the law.

Mummy, if I have caused you any offence I apologise, but it is difficult responding to people when you feel a bit as if you are being told off. Thank you again for your responses.

I won't pretend for a moment to know everything; at the same time I may not have an identical approach to you for a lot of things and this does not make either of us wrong but different people x

I've just inherited a business. A sheep farm. It is a small concern. If it starts haemorrhaging money I will let it go. It's quite exciting though. DH keeps saying I need a business plan but I haven't got that far. Good luck OP

Sheep farm sounds insanely amazing

I agree with your DH

It's worth carrying out a "due diligence" process on a company to check its financial health.

I wouldn't consider parting with a penny piece until I was absolutely certain I understood the business, its customers and the industry competitor Landscape.

It is today Wet Wandering around the ewes checking if they're lambing in the bright sunshine. Winter not so good. I have to buy a new ram and some females this year. I have a shepherdess who's an expert but she's away 'hill lambing' for someone else. If I fall out with her it's curtains

Contracts for staff ...

That reminds me - do you have any experience in employment law, or plans to develop skills in this area if not? IME the care sector has a pretty high turnover of staff, and given the additional issues this brings, that's something else which will be very important

Also you didn't mention what other training plans you've made apart from considering the NVQ? I'm just wondering if any of the experienced posters on this thread can help with this at all ...?

If you could help, or offer any advice, that would be great especially as it doesn't look as if I can do the NVQ.

I don't have any experience with employment law; am willing to learn, though.

You need to know must stuff before you start trading OP, of course you can learn as you go along, but eg missing a law could see you closed in the first month.
Not managing your finance could see you bankrupt and your home repossessed.
An accountant won't stop this, they don't manage your finance, you do.

I know, I'm not suggesting that I just buy it and learn the rest later, but just the same, I'm not going to necessarily know everything which is one reason I am asking on here.

That's a shame about the NVQ - do you want to share what the issue is there so we can perhaps suggest a way forward?

As mentioned before, personally I highly recommend the "shadowing" idea; it really can be the best way of getting an "inside look" at what the job entails, which is why it was always expected of my own candidates. Since you work in the sector now, presumably you'll know a few agency owners - why not approach them?