Once in a while -- way more often than I'd prefer -- someone will call me up or shoot me an email asking how long it takes to buy a business, does this stuff really work and should they quit their regular jobs to make this thing happen faster.

And what I basically tell them is that Ive been buying businesses for more than forty years. I still use the same techniques I used forty years ago. The tactics and techniques I talk about in my articles, in my interviews and on my website are intended to show you how to blow the smoke away and get a good grip on what you can expect and what to do when you're out there trying to buy a business.

I also tell them that, on average, if you know what you're doing, and if you don't try to cut corners or anything, it will usually (again, on average) take about six months. That's six months to find, analyze and close the deal on the business you want to buy.

As far as quitting their jobs, let me put it to you this way: Back when I did seminars, I used to have nightmares about waking up during the night and some person calling me and saying, I took the class and I know this is going to work; I just quit my job. Id wake up in a cold sweat screaming something like, Oh my God, dont do that!

And today I still tell everyone not to quit your job prematurely. Delay the move, or make the move later. Not because it's hard or some giant ordeal you can't do (I've seen people with "room temperature" IQ's buy extremely profitable businesses). But because if you rush into it youll end up buying a business that doesnt work.