Top books on buying a small business

For a long time, the art of buying and selling companies was kept within investment banks on Wall Street and dense textbooks for business school students. Over the past decade or two, there has been a surge of interest and educational content around buying a small business. Here are the top books to read if you’re considering buying a small business.

1. Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game

Author: Walker Deibel

Rating: 4.7/5 (1.3K+ ratings)

Buy Then Build is often referred to as the acquisition entrepreneur’s bible. Unlike some business books, this piece is light on fluff and covers the entire transaction journey. From defining and running your search for a business to buy to navigating the transition into the owner’s seat, Walker provides tactical advice on buying a business.

"In Buy Then Build, Walker Deibel creates a framework for entrepreneurs to capitalize on the biggest transfer of wealth in human history." - Verne Harnish, Founder Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

"Buy Then Build clearly outlines the framework for capturing value through acquisitions."   - Mark Daoust, founder, Quiet Light Brokerage

2. HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business

Authors: Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Rating: 4.7/5 (700+ ratings)

While less sexy than Walker’s Buy Then Build, the HBR Guide explores the “third path” in addition to start-ups and corporate america. Written by two professors at Harvard Business School, the book helps the reader think through whether being an acquisition entrepreneur is the right career path and walks her through the various steps involved in buying a small business. 

As a counter punch to the Stanford Search Fund model, this book more heavily explores the self-funded search approach, where entrepreneurs fund the costs of “searching” and then may raise equity to buy a business.

“I purchased this book after hearing an HBR IdeaCast interview with professors Ruback and Yudkoff. Their book provides a clear and thorough but concise roadmap to anyone seriously interested in pursuing entrepreneurship through acquisition of a small business.” - Spencer B Elliott

3. The Messy Marketplace: Selling Your Business in a World of Imperfect Buyers 

Author: Brent Beshore

Rating: 4.4/5 (100+ ratings)

Written by the founder of Permanent Equity, The Messy Marketplace explores the acquisition landscape from the point of view of a business owner looking to sell. It walks through the various types of buyers and the process from setting the north star to executing on a business sale. This book is highly recommended for acquisition entrepreneurs, as it articulates the psychology and emotions going on across the table.

"I've learned more about business from Brent than I have from anyone else alive. He has reviewed thousands of small companies up for sale, so his perspective is invaluable to business owners. The Messy Marketplace is easy to read, detailed, and written entirely with sellers in mind--but buyers should read it, too." - Patrick O'Shaughnessy, OSAM

4. Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You Kindle Edition

Author: John Warrillow

Rating: 4.7/5 (2.5K+ ratings)

One of the biggest issues self-funded searchers run into is businesses that seem inextricable from the owner. Many refer to this as “transition risk.” While this becomes a larger issue the smaller the company, it remains a concern in transactions of all sizes. 

John Warrillow walks through a three-pronged approach to building a business that endures: one that can be teachable, one that is valuable, and one that is repeatable.

While written to the business owner of today, it provides a useful framework for buyers analyzing and doing due diligence on small businesses for sale.

“Small businesses need this book. So many business owners have the dream of building a business that's bigger than themselves, and getting away from the tyranny of constantly putting out fires. John's book is an entertaining, to-the-point way of showing them how to do it.”   - Anita Campbell, editor in chief, Small Business Trends

5. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

Author: Michael Gerber

Rating: 4.7/5 (11.3K+ ratings)

Likely the most widely read of the books in this list, the e-myth explores the “entrepreneurial myth”. The myth is two-fold:

• Most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs

• Anyone who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run such a business.

Using franchises as a benchmark, the book walks through how to take a business from its infancy through a well oiled machine that you work on and not in. This book is a must read for any small business entrepreneur, whether starting out a search or actively operating an existing business.

"Without a doubt, the most important message for our company over the next decade." - The John Hancock Insurance Group

Information posted on this page is not intended to be, and should not be construed as tax, legal, investment or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, investment and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.