Start vs Buy vs Franchise vs Invest Calculator
For 10 popular industries, compare starting from scratch, buying an existing business, opening a franchise, or staying employed and investing the cash — with real BizBuySell multiples and SBA survival data.
Most 'should I buy a business?' content is written by business brokers (who get a commission on buy) or first-time founders (who romanticize start-from-scratch). We built a real comparison for 10 industries with BizBuySell's actual transaction multiples, SBA survival data, and Guidant Financial's annual small-business trends report. Each page compares four real options: start from scratch, buy an existing business (with SBA 7(a) financing math), open a franchise (with royalty drag included), or stay employed and put the money in the S&P 500. Save scenarios for the partner you're convincing, share a prefilled URL with your accountant, and read 900+ words of analysis specific to your industry — not generic 'follow your passion' content.
- 10 popular small business industries covered
- 4 paths compared: start / buy / franchise / invest
- Real BizBuySell + IBBA acquisition multiples
- SBA survival data baked into 5-yr math
- Save scenarios, prefilled URLs, print to PDF
- Cited industry transaction sources