| Buying a Business Case Study
| Age: | 34 | | When: | August 2005 | | Total spent: | £32k + Stock | | CV: | Worked as a web designer and IT manager. | | Key advice: | “Don’t be afraid of being a little bit ruthless in your decision making about what you want and don’t want. If you are buying a shop and also the stock – be careful when you do stocktakes. Make sure you buy things that you want to sell and not just things that the previous owners sold.”
| What started out as a holiday turned into a reconnaissance mission for Darren Houghton and his wife. Three months on from a break on the south-west coast they were the proud owners of a post office, and their lives had changed forever. “We wanted to work for ourselves. We really wanted the lifestyle change,” explains Darren, who had previously worked as a web designer and IT manager for a furniture retail company in Derbyshire. His wife had been a mortgage advisor for the Halifax. “We went to Devon on holiday and just fell in love with the place. We were thinking about moving anyway. We started looking for houses and jobs and then this place came up. “Our sheer determination to do something different propelled us,” says Darren. Having found the business through a private seller advert on BusinessesForSale.com, he says that the absence of external agents made the process hassle-free. “Initially we spoke to our solicitor, gathered information from the internet and spoke to a few other people about the move and buying a business.” All about location To ensure they were paying the right price — which ended up being £32k plus stock — Darren and his partner looked closely at how the business had performed over the past few years and how it was faring at the time of purchase, as well as any changes that had been made, before taking the plunge. “We also took into account the accommodation which came with the property, and the area in which it was situated,” he adds. “What really made us think was whether we could recoup everything we spent in the first year over five years of trading. "We worked out we were going to be able to do this, so we knew we were paying a good price. However, for us, it wasn’t really about the money — it was all about location.” Since moving into their new abode, Darren, his wife and his 10-year-old son have been overwhelmed by the local support. “As we were establishing ourselves, the locals were incredibly friendly.” But it was the previous owners whose support counted the most. “They’ve been great, and have continued to support us since we arrived. We still call them with our problems and they are happy to help us out.” Some of the skills they acquired in their previous careers were transferable to the post office, but they certainly weren’t schooled in how to run their own business. Nevertheless, Darren is philosophical about the few setbacks they’ve had: “The really good thing about this move is that we now both have more confidence in our own abilities. We are also learning from our mistakes. I mean we’re not making that many – we’ve both had a lot of experience in retail so we generally know what we’re doing.” He adds: “The most important thing is that we don’t have a boss telling us what to do any more.” More time together Not only have Darren and his wife got their shop off to a good start and are now living in one of the UK’s most sought-after locations, but the move has also had a positive impact on their family life — not something that can often be said about becoming your own boss. “Things have definitely improved,” says Darren. “The business has brought my wife and I closer together. "We spend much more time together, and now spend more time with our son and our pets. We can take it in turns to drop him off at school. "We do a lot more now as a family than we did previously. Everything is working out really well.” Yet, despite moving to the corner of the country, they haven’t damaged their friendships in Derbyshire. “We keep in regular contact with people and go back to Derbyshire, or friends visit here.” Clearly contented, Darren is effusive to the end of the interview. “This place has got everything we wanted: countryside, a rural community and no rat race — that’s what we were so keen to get away from. We are 20 minutes from the beach and 10 minutes from Dartmouth. "It provides the perfect opportunity to be able to do things when you want to do them, rather than when you have time.” And, to top it all off: “We’re the only shop in the village and our nearest competition is two miles away!” | 
