Should You Start a Business From Scratch or Buy an Existing Business?

[Deleted member 28873]

When most people think of starting a business, they think of beginning from scratch—developing your own idea and building the company from the ground up. But starting from scratch presents some distinct disadvantages, including the difficulty of building a customer base, marketing the new business, hiring employees and establishing cash flow ... all without a track record or reputation to go on.
If you're worried about the difficulties involved in starting a business from the ground up, you might decide that buying an existing business is a better fit for you. When you buy a business, you take over an operation that’s already generating cash flow and profits. You have an established customer base and reputation as well as employees who are familiar with all aspects of the business. And you don't have to reinvent the wheel—setting up new procedures, systems, and policies—since a successful formula for running the business has already been put in place.
On the downside, buying a business is often more costly than starting from scratch. However, it’s often easier to get financing to buy an existing business than to start a new one. Bankers and investors generally feel more comfortable dealing with a business that already has a proven track record. In addition, buying a business may give you valuable legal rights, such as patents or copyrights, which can prove very profitable.

 

[IamDozzy]

I believe buying an existing business would be easier to handle for a greenhorn in business that starting from scratch. This is because and existing business should already have an established customer base and well established processes and structures. It would just be like replacing the CEO with another CEO. You would have employees with the experience to run the business. But you will have to be careful not to buy a business with bad debts.