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BUYING YOUR WAY INTO ENTREPRENEURSHIP WITH THE RIGHT STRATEGY AND SUPPORT

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Being an entrepreneur is a challenging task. It is crucial to acquire the requisite skills and competencies. Running a company involves constraints such as a lack of clientele, financial resources, and a limited cash flow; the following best method to get your first business experience is entrepreneur acquisition. In their essay “Buying Your Way into Entrepreneurship,” Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff explore why individuals should acquire and grow existing businesses, how to find suitable organisations, and how to lead these newly acquired businesses.
 
Acquisition entrepreneurship is the act of acquiring and expanding an existing company by purchasing its shares or assets rather than creating your own from fresh. Even though these are existing businesses, acquiring them presents its own set of obstacles. Entrepreneurs must first demonstrate that they are qualified for the position. Entrepreneurs must develop a few essential skills to be the ideal candidates for acquiring these businesses.
 
MANAGEMENT SKILLS 
To be successful in acquisition entrepreneurship, you must have basic management abilities, such as an awareness of finance, a talent for leading and managing others, and a decision-making ability. 
 
CONFIDENCE
Confidence and persuasion are essential; the profession needs you to approach strangers—business brokers, investors, sellers, and the staff and consumers you encounter. This trait may come naturally to some, but others may require more preparation to emanate this confidence.
 
PERSISTENCE
It will take years to become a successful entrepreneur, with tenacity playing a significant part. The road to being an entrepreneur is long and arduous, and only through perseverance will more opportunities reveal themselves. To acquire an existing business, you must be persistent in discovering new opportunities and determining which company is right for you.
 
THE ABILITY TO LEARN 
A good capacity and a strong desire to learn are required for an entrepreneur as there will be ups and downs in running a business. What makes entrepreneurs successful is their ability to learn in any situation, including failures. 
 
It’s also vital to consider the exchange that all entrepreneurs make when they take that chance: Do you value what you will gain more than what you might lose? For example, you will gain professional freedom and the flexibility to make independent decisions, but you’ll be under additional pressure. You would have to give up the convenience of working in a more structured organisation with more financial access and the support of peers, managers, and organisational departments like Human Resources. 
 
Your income will be directly proportional to your performance, and any positive developments you and your employees make will benefit both you and your investors. However, there seems to be a significant disadvantage: errors and down cycles will substantially impact you than if you were a component of a corporate establishment.
 
FINDING THE RIGHT BUSINESS FOR YOU 
Even though acquisition entrepreneurship entails taking over an existing business, the process is lengthy; during this time, entrepreneurs will use it to raise funds from investors, uncover prospects, assess the most acceptable deal, and eventually determine the right business that will sell at a reasonable price.
 
Prospects are found every day through recommendations from a buyer’s network, brokers, or direct outreach, and this will result in thousands of options over a year or two. Hence the authors suggest potential buyers look at the following criteria when evaluating viable businesses.
 
• The profitable endeavour of the business 
• The company’s revenue and cash flow 
• The essential competencies for running this business 
• If the business is compatible with your lifestyle
 
Entrepreneurship may take some time to develop, and there will be numerous challenges along the way. While starting a new business or acquiring and extending an existing one presents opportunities and benefits in the long run, it can also be a daunting process. Entrepreneurs require all of the help they can get.
 
We at Yayasan Usahawan Malaysia (Malaysian Entrepreneurship Foundation), also known as MyPreneurship, was established in 2013 to promote the growth of Malaysian entrepreneurs by providing a platform that connects small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs to government agencies to foster the continued growth of these businesses.
 
Although it may appear that acquiring entrepreneurship merely entails expanding into a similar business industry, newly acquired enterprises can be developed into other sectors. Entrepreneurs must be inventive and creative because the business world is continuously changing and evolving; thus, entrepreneurship and innovation go hand in hand.
 
Yayasan Usahawan Malaysia  seeks to motivate company owners to explore their passions, take risks, and build, organise, and manage market-driven, customer-centric businesses that can thrive in a constantly changing and competitive global marketplace. With that purpose in mind, Yayasan Usahawan Malaysia founded the SME and Entrepreneurs Business Awards (SEBA) in 2016 to recognise and honour Malaysia’s innovative entrepreneurs and enterprises.
 
SEBA is organised annually by Yayasan Usahawan Malaysia to boost SMEs and entrepreneurs. SEBA encourages and recognises resilient businesses that have achieved their vision and goals despite challenges presented to them. SEBA provides the tools and networking opportunities needed to guarantee that the SME sector thrives. SEBA is more than just an honour; it recognises exceptional businesses that excel in business strategy, growth metrics, and best practices.
 
In addition to SEBA, Yayasan Usahawan Malaysia, which is always looking for new and innovative ways to help entrepreneurs and small-medium businesses thrive and achieve their full potential, has created an e-magazine Asia Connects. Asia Connects a multifaceted platform devoted to motivating, promoting, and amplifying the voices of Malaysian businesses. The purpose of this e-magazine is to collect and distribute narratives from the world’s most influential leaders and entrepreneurs who are driving change, transforming business, and revolutionising the world. Entrepreneurs can use this platform to share their entrepreneurial journey, as well as the challenges and accomplishments they have encountered along the way.  
 
Yayasan Usahawan Malaysia hopes that these two initiatives would inspire more entrepreneurs to be more innovative and proactive in improving and growing their businesses, whether they are start-ups, acquired entrepreneurship, or long-running businesses in the competitive world of business.