If You’re Selling, Get Ready to Expect the Unexpected!
Many experts agree that the best time to prepare to sell your business is when you start your business. That may sound extreme. However, few business owners reach that level of preparedness. A simple fact of life and owning a business is that most sales are event-driven. Factors such as problems with a partnership, health…
Read MoreHow Your Employees Can Boost Profits and Values
The simple fact is that without employees, you don’t have a business. Given the tremendous importance of your employees, it is important to step back and reflect on the value associated with keeping those employees happy. There is a direct relationship between happy employees and happy customers. A happy employee takes steps to ensure that…
Read MoreHow To Lure A Giant Like Facebook Into Buying Your Company
A great business is bought, not sold, so, if you look too eager to sell your business, you’ll be negotiating on the back foot and look desperate—a recipe for a bad exit. But, what if you really want to sell? Maybe you’ve got a new idea for a business you want to start or your…
Read MoreHow To Scale Up Your Service Business
Increase the value of your company by training others in your area of expertise. It can be tough to grow a service business. Clients are typically buying your expertise, and if all you have to sell is time, the size of your business will always be limited by the number of hours in your day. One…
Read MoreWill this be the year you seriously drive up the value of your company?
If you have resolved to make your company more valuable in 2017, you may want to think hard about how your customers pay. If you have a transaction business model where customers pay once for what they buy, expect your company’s value to be a single-digit multiple of your Earnings Before Interest Taxes, Depreciation and…
Read MoreOne Way To Decide When To Sell
How do you know the right time to sell your company? One answer to this age-old question is that the time to sell is when someone else is willing to invest more in your business than you are. When you start a business, nobody is willing to invest in its success more than you. You’ve…
Read More5 Ways To Get Your Business To Run Without You
Some owners focus on growing their profits, while others are obsessed with sales goals. Have you ever considered making it your primary goal to set up your business so that it can thrive and grow without you? A business not dependent on its owner is the ultimate asset to own. It allows you complete control…
Read MoreThe Anatomy of a Successful Exit
Stephanie Breedlove started Breedlove & Associates in 1992 as a way to pay her nanny. The big payroll processors weren’t interested in dealing with one person’s wages and doing it themselves was complicated and time-consuming, too much for the then overwhelmed Breedloves. Breedlove saw a business opportunity and started a payroll company for parents who…
Read MoreHow To Avoid Disappointment When It’s Time To Cash Out
How do you avoid not being disappointed with the money you make from the sale of your company? Perhaps you’ve heard that companies like yours trade using an industry rule of thumb or that companies of your size sell within a specific range, and you want to get at least what your peers have received.…
Read MoreOne Tweak That Can (Instantly) Add Millions To The Value Of Your Business
If you’re trying to figure out what your business might be worth, it’s helpful to consider what acquirers are paying for companies like yours these days. A little internet research will probably reveal that a business like yours trades for a multiple of your pre-tax profit, which is Sellers Discretionary Earnings (SDE) for a small…
Read More