[olug] OT: Purchasing a Business?

[Eric Penne]

I was approached today by my wife's former boss.  She owns a daycare
and is fed up with personnel issues and administrative tasks.  She dug
her own grave on this one so I don't feel sorry for her.  The personnel
issues were magnified when my wife quit.  That left 3 employees
including the owner and she was the only competent one. Previously (10
months ago) she had talked of selling the daycare and my wife and I
expressed interest in purchasing it.  AFter my wife quit, I forgot
about the whole issue, except minor updates from a coworker who has a
kid there saying things were getting worse.  

Now the daycare is coming up for sale again with my wife and I being
the first candidates.   I've never done this before and from what I've
seen from the books, we can double my wifes current income and pay for
some of the bills.  THis would make my current job searching plight
less stressful.  What questions do I need to ask about (or any)
business when purchasing?  What kinds of help are available for small
businesses?  If my wife is the owner is there more help available for
female owners?

I know this is wildly off topic for the OLUG list, but I know some of
you run your own businesses and/or have purchased them.  

To help make this more on topic, I can add that I would use linux as
the business backend on the desktop even if I have to run CodeWeavers
and Quickbooks. :)  This could lead to more stuff I contribute to the
OLUG website.

Eric


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