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Owning your own business can be richly rewarding, although setting one up can be tough work and all-consuming. But what if you could skip the initial stage and buy an established business instead? 

Michelle Ovens is founder of small business champion Small Business Britain. She says: 'There can be lots of benefits to taking on an existing business – such as its established reputation, customer base, staff and assets.' 

Small business owners work so hard to build up a company that it may seem surprising they would want to part ways with it. However, circumstances can change, such as retirement or changed family needs, leaving owners looking for buyers to carry on what they have created. 

Ready for customers: It tends to be easiest to buy a business in a field where you have existing expertise

Anna Cargan, 34, and Nathalie Redfern, 35, based in Cumbria, bought a second-hand clothes business in April. The previous owner found she no longer had time to run the business. 

So they paid £2,200 via Paypal for 1,500 items of stock and storage boxes, the website and Facebook page – and a courier collected everything and delivered it for £250. Anna and Nathalie already had a second-hand children's clothes business, Buildabundle, so they could combine them. 

'It was a godsend for us as it was right in the middle of lockdown and we weren't buying stock in the way we usually do,' says Anna. 'It gave us a really good boost. It also allowed us to advertise ourselves to the customers the owner had attracted and some of them followed us to our own Facebook page.' 

It tends to be easiest to buy a business in a field where you have existing expertise. You're likely to already have contacts in that area, and to have a better grasp of the value of the business and its potential. However, many take a leap and look to something completely new. 

Gareth McKeever, 45, and his wife Claire, 40, bought Pure Lakes, a company selling homemade natural skin products that they had been customers of themselves for many years. The couple had been living in London, with Gareth labouring long hours for a financial company and Claire working as an actress and dancer. 

They decided to move to the edge of Lake Windermere for an improved quality of life with their three children, Angus, nine, Esme, six, and three-year-old Carina. They were looking for employment that better suited their new life and decided to get in touch with the owners of Pure Lakes. 

Gareth says: 'We approached the founders who we knew were close to retirement. We asked them to think of us if they ever wanted to sell and within a year we had agreed to buy it from them.' 

They funded the purchase with savings and a small loan by releasing equity from their home. This year, the business is set to generate turnover of between £550,000 and £600,000 and has 11 staff members – including the former owners who work one day a week. 

There are many routes to finding a small business for sale. You can approach companies working in the area in which you are looking to buy, advertise in industry publications, or employ a reputable small business broker. You could even consider a management buyout of the company where you work. 

Graham Jewell is head of corporate at lawyer Stephenson Law and has advised on purchases of businesses of all sizes. He says that once you have found a business, you will need to do due diligence to find out everything about it. 

'You will need oversight of the accounts and projected profits, to know about any existing liabilities the company has and details of the business plan,' he says. 

'You will also want to manage the transition period, for example tying in the owners or key employees for a certain term.' 

He adds that expert advice can help avoid costly mistakes. 'We were advising on a business purchase recently where we discovered the intellectual property was owned by the founder and not the business itself. If that hadn't been spotted, the buyer would have bought a business without its most valuable asset.' 

Matt Turner, 37, chief executive of marketing agency Creative Pod, owns six businesses – three he started and three he bought, including a digital marketing agency last year. He says: 'There is big risk in the financial commitment, yet the rewards can be instant.'