“I guess the main thing I am worried about is how much work I need to do to run the business, like how do I even know how much work it takes?”
“And what if I don’t know how to do it, like how do I run the business?”
Great questions. Questions, that plays on people’s minds when it comes to buying websites. These are the questions that cause our fears to grow and our dreams to fade off into the abyss.
What most people don’t know though is that although these are very valid questions, they are normally just rationalizing why it may not be wise to buy a website business. Which I totally understand when you are first beginning and this is exactly why I am writing this post.
I want to show you that buying a website does not have to be scary, which I will do by answering these two common questions.
So like, how do I know how much work it takes?
First of all I would not expect anyone to buy a website without knowing how much work is involved in running it. To either keep it maintained at its current earnings or what is required to grow it. That would just be Ludacris!
Instead when you are looking at investing in a website your goal is to do enough due diligence into the business to understand exactly what work is needed to be done to keep running the business at it’s current earnings (or build it if that is something you wish to do). Along with knowing approximately how long it would take per week/month to keep running the site smoothly.
If you were to tackle the situation the opposite way, all that would happen is you purchase the website, go to take it over and be completely surprised as to what exactly is involved. This is an approach that not many people make, though it can happen if you get too excited and jump the gun.
There is nothing worse than taking on a significant amount of work you never expected to get. Which is why I teach my clients proper planning first and then how key due diligence is after planning.
How do I run the business if I don’t know how?
Another thing many first time investors worry about is how to actually run their website they are going to buy. I must admit on my first website I bought I was a little worried as to understanding what I needed to know to run the business.
Which is why I quickly learnt it is incredibly important to work out in your deal with the website seller or the broker that the old owner of the site dedicates some time to teaching you everything you need to know about the business. From running it, to growing it and all the little ins and outs you may not of even knew existed when deciding to buy the website and run it.
So for those of you who are concerned about these things, don’t fret. Generally in all deals there is an agreement that states a certain amount of training from the seller that will be provided with the takeover of the business so the new business owner (you) can take over without missing a beat.
Just a word of warning though, don’t simply expect this training to be apart of the sale with every website. It is in within your responsibility to double check this is apart of the deal, and if it is not then simply ask for that to be added in also.
As you can see these are all very valid questions, but what minimizes risk is education. And the best way to get an education is to start by asking questions. So if you have any questions about buying websites please feel free to comment below or contact me with them as I am more than happy to help.
