I'm thinking of buying a small business.....need pointers?

I'm 20 years old, just graduated from college with 2 business degrees, and have very little money in the bank. I would like to buy a small business (I don't have a particular one in mind). now obviously I'd have to get financing, and i know the basics, such as going over the financials, and coming up with a business plan. My question is, did anybody else go through something similar and can you give me some pointers? What is the best way to do things? What are the steps involved? Do I need to hire lawyers or accountants? Where's the best place to get financing? What kind of governemnt paperwork do I have to fill out? I'm very aware that I may be too young and inexperianced to do this but I would like to learn if it's doable.

Sam

I DO have 2 business degrees, one in Hr and the other in CIS, I know a lot about running a business but not a lot about buying one. While i don't have a lot of money I CAN afford not to take money out of the business for 6 months to a year. My dream is not to start a certain type of company but to own several......in which case i need to elarn how to do it.

Basic rule .... never ever buy someone elses business .... it is their dream, you can't formulate a plan when you don't even know what you want to do. Go work for someone else, look at what you are interested in and develop a business to sell to some other mug.

I doubt your claim to have 2 business degrees and also no knowledge of the steps involved and professionals associated with setting up a business.

Better get some advice, because when you buy into a business, you also get the debts of that business also.

The greatest cause of new business failure is lack of money. If you can't afford not to take money out of the business for the first 6 months, your chances of failure increase dramatically.

or you could Join the Marine Corps, choose your m.o.s. as Communications stay in a few years. then go work for At&t or sprint or any big phone company and make like $100,000....

If you want to buy a business you need to be able to analyze financial statements including the balance sheet and P/L. If you can't you will need to hire an accountant to do it for you.

After that you need to figure out what type of business you would like to be in. Do you have any experience you can draw from?