Hi guys. I'm a recent casualty of corporate downsizing and would like to get into the lawn care service industry. My questions are:

1.) What are your opinions on buying an existing business versus starting one from scratch? Which way would you go?

2.) If buying an existing business is there a rule of thumb to use in valuing the business? Should the value be based on revenue, cash flow, assets or some combination thereof?

Thanks for your help guys.