Planning to buy a business?? You couldn’t have asked for better timing, considering sluggish business sales and low interest rates.
Rise in business sales for small and medium sized businesses generally results from a rise in unemployment. In the past, many people looked to buy a business when they couldn’t find a good job.
With unemployment rates in WA averaging 5%, you would expect business sales would increase significantly. However, factors inhibiting business sales are:
– Gen X and Y (aged 20 to 40) are not as enthusiastic to own a business as were their parents. One reason for this could be that they’ve been well-employed all their working life (so far!).
– The aging baby boomers are delaying retirement, which means that they are retaining their business. This might be due to the recent talks of raising the retirement age or because Baby Boomers think they may get bored in retirement; they are a generation that refuses to let go. This has resulted in an unusually short supply of businesses for sale.
Nonetheless, business buying opportunities are available in abundance and looking for new owners with vitality and drive to revive them.
