Let me preface this by saying that, as a Business Broker, I make no money unless I actually sell someone a business; but I have no interest in selling someone a business if I know they are doomed to failure.

Taht being said, to answer your question, tt depends on how much money you have to invest, how profitable the site is and how much you have to pay the person to manage it. But if the answer to all of that suggests you have to struggle with money from the beginning - even in the slightest way - my suggestion is to just take the money, wad it up real tight and flush it down the toilet.

If you know nothing about the business, why would you invest in it to begin with? How do you judge whether it is going well or not, until you are in the midst of losing your shirt? How do you even judge whether you have hired the right person? And if you even hire the right person, what the heck do you do if he/she wants a vacation, gets sick and/or dies, or quits on you?

People think e-commerce is sexy and hugely profitable: it is sexy if you don't #^%$ it up; and it is hugely profitable if you don't #^%$ it up...get the theme? How do you know whether you are going to #^%$ it up, if you know nothing about it?

Do yourself a favor: Either take the time to study the hell out of it for several years before you get into the industry, or look for something you do know about to invest in.

Web reference: www.bafgroup.com

Hi Mike. Most owners selling a website business will be happy to spend a little time with the buyer to show them the ropes. Chances are if it is an established business, they have an automated website, hosting account and seo already set up so you won't really have to do much except change your the banking information. The only time you need to do something is to update your website content which is fairly easy and again, I'm sure the owner would show you how to do that.

Please keep me in mind as I do have three different website businesses available in different price ranges from a domain reselling business offering hosting and other services through godaddy, a 10 year old dating service selling it's website, domains, adv etc. as an asset business, and an ebay website selling unique, antique movie memorabillia selling as an asset sale. You can reach me at "globalnerd@yahoo.com".

Best of luck to you in whichever business you decide to purchase.
Angie

Let me put it this way, it would be akin to buying, say, a cosmetic surgery clinic if you are a bus driver. Not only will you be bled dry by people who will grasp immediately that you have no clue about the business, but you will not be able to make the right decisions about how to manage and grow the business.

Last year, a guy I know, a professional, bought an ecommerce site and he is now completely dependent on others. As soon as he bought the site it started trending downwards. Soon he was calling me for advice and I gave what answers I could in the time I had available. I'd hate to be in his shoes.

Never buy a business that you couldn't fully operate yourself through a temporary crisis.

Web reference: http://dealflow.typepad.com/