You will need to answer many questions when selecting a business to buy. You’ll want to ask yourself, for example, what your role will be in the new business. Are you buying yourself a job or buying a business that you hope to grow? To what extent will you be involved? The person who buys a job will invest a steady amount of time into maintaining the business in order to bring home a profit; conversely, the person who buys for growth has two options.

First, you can put in long hours, hard work, and additional funds to build a business. The second choice is to buy a business that will be run by other people; in this way you can make key business decisions without doing the day-to-day work.

If you will be a hands-on business owner, choose a field in which you have some degree of skill, knowledge, and enthusiasm. After all, if you are going to invest both your time and your money, you should enjoy being there.

Once you narrow down the field to meet your personal interests, knowledge, and skills, the next step is to find a business that fits your personality, temperament, and comfort level as a business owner. Too often, individuals buy (and later sell) businesses that don’t match their personalities. Ask yourself: