Buy the business
The agreed price and costs of completing the purchase.
Pay for the business.
Plan for what comes next.
Buying a business is only the start. There must also be money for wages, supplies, repairs and improvements. Explore how a purchase might be funded and try the calculator with your own assumptions.
What needs funding?
Keep it running
Money for wages, stock, maintenance and unexpected disruptions.
Make improvements
Equipment, systems, paid learning and help with the handover.
Where could the money come from?
Possible sources include loans, member contributions, outside investment and a seller agreeing to receive part of the price later. Each has different costs and conditions. A deferred payment reduces what is due on purchase day, but it does not put money into the business. A guarantee also does not supply cash.
Understand the two models before using them
The first tool explores a documented community funding campaign: its target, total raised and number of investors. It shows a funding gap, percentage funded and average contribution. An average does not mean everyone invested the same amount.
The second tool lets you build your own Australian-dollar purchase-and-upgrade scenario. Enter the price, operating reserve, AI or robotics upgrade budget, finance terms and cash assumptions yourself. It estimates level annual loan repayments and cash after repayments and an extra workforce budget. It does not forecast investor payouts, refinancing or changing taxes.
Decide how to use money left over
Members would need to balance reserves, improvements, current benefits and any further business purchases. Paying off a loan could free up money, but the amount and its use would depend on the business. This calculator does not establish an income entitlement.
A worker-owned business: Real Pickles
In 2013, Real Pickles in Massachusetts raised US$500,000 from 77 investors as part of its move to worker ownership. Its account describes a US$500,000 funding need. This is a useful case because it shows community investment supporting a handover while workers retained control.
Why the tool starts this way
The starting target and amount raised are both US$500,000; 77 is the reported investor count. These are historical US dollars, with no currency conversion. This models the community campaign only. It does not reconstruct the entire purchase price, other finance or business cash flow.
Real Pickles: financing case studyReal Pickles: campaign record
Explore the community funding campaign
Change the three figures to see their relationship. Changes become your own scenario; the reset restores the historical figures. All amounts in this example are US dollars.
Amount still needed
Target funded
Average per investor
Interactive illustration
Your purchase and upgrade calculator
Build your own purchase and upgrade scenario in Australian dollars. Start with verified business records and quotes. Unknown figures are blank, not zero. Enter zero only where you have chosen to exclude a cost or funding source. Nothing is uploaded or automatically saved.
Total funding neededCalculating
Funding differenceCalculating
Estimated annual loan repaymentsCalculating
Base cash after debt and workforce budgetCalculating
Stressed cash after debt and workforce budgetCalculating
Reduced cash / loan repaymentsCalculating