問題：除了創立一盤新的生意，我可以購買已在運作中的業務嗎？如果我打算那樣做，要注意甚麼呢？ <br /><br />回答：創辦小型企業可能是一個富有挑戰性和令人興奮的體驗。但是閣下不妨考慮不要從零開始建立業務，而是購買現有並已在運作中的業務。 收購現有並已在運作中的業務，優勢是顯而易見的。<br /><br />僅舉幾例：產品或服務已經在市場上，品牌可能已成熟，啟動時間可以顯著縮短，可能更容易獲得融資，已有穩健的客戶群等。買方只需評估它願意為收購業務付出多少，並找到一個願意以雙方同意的價格出售業務的賣家。 收購現有業務最直接的方式是收購經營該業務的公司的所有股份。公司的全部權利、義務和責任將由買方承擔。當然，買方必須對目標公司進行盡職調查，以確保它購買的業務確屬其真正所需。然後，雙方應達成股份買賣協議，以釐定股份價格、成交日期、賣方的擔保和陳述、納稅彌償責任、賣方責任上限等事項。視乎目標公司的規模和運作複雜性，整個買賣過程可能非常複雜需要數個月才能完成。如果沒有專業協助，要完成整個買賣過程並非易事。因此，如果買方和賣方不委聘會計師和律師等專業人員參與工作，他們將承擔相當大的風險。 <br /><br />Question : INSTEAD OF SETTING UP A NEW BUSINESS, CAN I ACQUIRE AN ON-GOING BUSINESS? WHAT DO I HAVE TO BEAR IN MIND IF I INTEND TO DO THAT? Answer : Starting a small business can be a challenging and exciting experience. However, rather than building a business from ground zero, you may consider purchasing an existing and on-going one. The advantages of acquiring an existing and on-going business are obvious. Just to name a few: the product or service is already on the market, the brand is probably well established, startup time can be significantly reduced, it is probably much easier to obtain financing, access to customer base is secured, etc. The purchaser just has to evaluate how much it is willing to pay for the business and find a seller who is willing to sell at a mutually agreed price. The most straight forward way to acquire an on-going business is to acquire all the shares in the company which runs that business. The company’s entire rights, obligations and liabilities will be assumed by the purchaser. The purchaser of course has to conduct due diligence investigation on the subject company to make sure that it is buying what it really wants. The parties should then work on an agreement for sale and purchase of shares to stipulate items like price, completion date, warranties and representations by the seller, indemnity for tax liabilities, limitation of seller’s liability, etc. Depending on the size and complexity of operation of the subject company, the entire sale and purchase process can be very complicated and could take months to complete. Since this is not an easy task to go through the entire sale and purchase procedure without professional assistance, the purchaser and seller will be taking considerable risks if they do not engage professionals like accountant and lawyer in the process.