What Warren Buffett says about Buying a Business

BUYING THE BUSINESS

Warren Buffett believes, as did Benjamin Graham, that investors should look upon share investment as buying a part of a business. Investors should take the same approach to buying shares as they would if they were buying a business. The only difference is that instead of buying the whole of the business, or a partnership in the business, they are only buying a tiny share.

A prudent investor never buys a business that they do not understand. Similarly, a prudent share investor should never buy shares in a company, whose business they do not understand.

WHAT WARREN BUFFET SAYS ABOUT BUYING A BUSINESS

In 1977, Warren Buffett told shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway that their company would only invest in a business that the directors could understand.. He has repeated this message many times since. In 1992, he expanded on this theme:

‘[W]e try to stick with businesses we believe we understand. That means they must be relatively simple and stable in character. If a business is complex or subject to constant change we’re not smart enough to predict future cash flows. Incidentally that shortcoming doesn’t bother us.’