Anyone know the business of acquiring existing businesses?

[David Saucedo]

I've seen a lot of advertising by gurus and others that encourage people to BUY existing businesses - it could be a real estate business, a merchant wholesaler business, and/or retail.

Their argument is that starting a business from scratch is antiquated, when you can walk right into one.

Has anyone done this? If so, what tips do you have on how to approach and acquire a business? I'm assuming there are a lot of similarities to prospecting properties.