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Page 9
How To Investigate Any Business Opportunity
lease?
Personnel
1. What are the job responsibilities, rates of pay, and benefits of each employee?
2. What is each employee's tenure?
3. What is the level of each employee's skill in their position and are they employed under an employ-
ment contract?
4. Will key employees stay after the business is purchased?
5. Are any employees part of a union, or is any union organizing effort likely?
Marketing
1. Are any of the products proprietary?
2. Describe any new upcoming products and projected sales.
3. What is the business's geographic market area?
4. What is the business's percentage of market share?
5. What are the business's competitive advantages?
6. What are the business's annual marketing expenditures?
Patents
A list of trade names, trademarks, logos, copyrights and patents should be obtained, noting the period of
time remaining before each expires.
Taxes
1. Are all tax payments current?
2. What was the date and the outcome of the last tax audit?
Legal issues
1. Are there any suits now or soon to commence?
2. What government registration requirements and regulations must be met and are they currently being
met?