Richard Parker, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Diomo Corporation (www.diomo.com) Just published a really good blog that says, among other things, that ““A lot of you started out 2008 with the goal of buying a business this year. If you’re still looking, you had better get moving”.

 He points out that there will be a swing in the economy and that he bets it will go back up (it always has!).  Additionally he points out that if you are planning on becoming a small business owner you had better get used to taking risks.

He says “I would never suggest that you act recklessly. Nor would I recommend against the thought of proceeding cautiously. But, if you’re waiting for a good time to kiss employee life goodbye and get into your own business; there will never be a “good time” to do so. Just as there is never a prescribed “good time” to get married, start a family, buy a house, or make any major decision. 

Successful people take risks. They take calculated ones. They make massive, life-altering decisions. Some work, some don’t. The difference is that they make them as a result of being well-informed beforehand and they are right more often than not.”

We are seeing a lot of customers agonizing over the “credit crunch” and waiting for “the bottom of the market”.   Unfortunately the way you can be sure the market has bottomed out  is to chart it going back up, which means you missed it already!

Additionally, when you look at an individual business it does not really matter that much what the global market is doing, what matters is the situation in the neighborhood or segment of the economy where your business target is.  The basics of analyzing that stay the same regardless of what is going on in the rest of the world.

 Local Bankers are still telling us that they are sitting around waiting for us to bring them deals, and they need to put money to work to make money.

Additionally a customer the other day mentioned that a lot of our listings had “price reduced” signs on them.  That is right, we and our clients, the Sellers, have had to reflect the changes that have already happened in the marketplace.   There are some really good deals available.

  So if you made a New Years resolution last January, or decided since then, to buy a business this year it is time to get at it.  There is still time to get thru the two months,  more or less, processing period and get in well before this coming New Years!