You’re a seasoned professional ready to make your own decisions, set your own hours, and build equity in a valuable asset for your later years. Before you invest hundreds of thousands of dollars of your own money, you need to know what you are doing. Right now, you don't. You'll only do it once and you'll live with it for many years. That's where "The Goldmine on the Corner" comes in.

WHO IS THIS BOOK NOT FOR? You cannot buy a business if you have no money and no experience.

WHY THIS BOOK? Most of the advice you'll find about buying businesses is based on larger businesses, but the buying process is entirely different for smaller “Main Street” businesses (those with under $5 million in revenues), which is where you should be looking at as a first-time buyer. This book fills that gap.

THE NO-AI PROMISE: Nothing in this book was written by AI. It is based on the author’s personal experience working with hundreds of people who want to buy businesses, some successfully and many not.

WHAT ARE THE SEVEN STEPS? The buying process breaks down into seven clear steps:

1. Know What You're Doing: Understand the business landscape—and yourself.

2. Build a Team: Find the right professional support.

3. The Search: Find promising opportunities.

4. The Offer: Understand the terms and what will work for you.

5. Due Diligence: Ensure that the business is what the seller said it was.

6. The Closing: Don't trip on the way to the altar.

7. Wrapping It Up: Get off to a good start in the first 90 days of the rest of your life.

Special value: This book consciously avoids being a thinly veiled sales pitch for business brokerage services. You decide what you want to do yourself and what you should turn over to a professional.

PRACTICAL EXERCISES: The book provides many exercises, particularly as you work whether you (and your family) are a good fit for business ownership. It cannot provide templates for legal documents; for that you need to see a business broker or attorney.