When I started looking seriously at business acquisitions, I did what I tend to do when I’m trying to understand something new: I researched it properly. I wanted to know what the process looked like, what I should expect at each stage, what information I’d need and how all the different pieces fitted together.
I’d built a fairly neat picture of it in my head before I’d done very much of it in practice. I mapped out the steps, worked through different scenarios and even spent time building an acquisitions tool because I thought that would help me manage the process. I barely use that tool now.
I don’t think all that time was wasted because I learned a lot while doing it, but I can also see that I could have spent some of it looking at actual opportunities and having conversations much sooner. It reminds me of one of my favourite sayings: everything works 100% in theory, but in practice…
The real process was a lot less tidy than the version I’d planned. Even contacting a broker felt like quite a big step initially, probably because I’d attached more significance to it than it actually needed. Once I started doing it, I realised I could ask questions, get the information I needed and decide whether an opportunity was worth exploring further. If it wasn’t a fit, I could stop.
That last part was more important than I expected. I’ve tended to feel a certain obligation to continue things once I’ve started them, as though deciding to explore an opportunity meant I’d somehow committed to seeing the whole thing through. But looking at an acquisition doesn’t mean buying it, just as exploring a business idea doesn’t mean turning it into a company.
It’s also made me more conscious of analysis paralysis. I like analysing things and understanding how they work; it’s been a large part of my career and it’s something I genuinely enjoy. The difficulty is that researching, planning and improving the plan can all feel productive, even when I’m doing them partly because the next action is unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
If I’ve been thinking about something for a while without moving it forward, I now try to understand why. Is there a real decision I can’t make yet? Do I need information I don’t have? Is something genuinely blocked? Or am I spending more time analysing because that part feels more familiar than doing the next thing?
I haven’t stopped over-analysing, and I still like having a plan. Changing plans once I’ve started has never really been the problem for me. What I’m getting more comfortable with is starting something without feeling I have to see it through to the end. I can test an idea, find out it isn’t what I expected and decide to stop, without feeling that I’ve left something I ought to finish.
Starting something doesn’t have to be a commitment to keep doing it. Sometimes starting is simply how I get enough information to decide whether something deserves another step.