One constant of successful companies is a stable, motivated management team. This quality not only contributes to corporate success, it is also key to increasing the value of your business and your successful business exit.
Should you decide to sell your business to a third party, you’ll discover that potential buyers place significant value on the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘sell your business’
Employee Incentive Plan Puts Cash in Your Pocket!
Posted on December 2nd, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Exit Strategy, Increasing & Preserving Business Value, Transferring Business Ownership
Sold! To The Highest Bidder
Posted on November 30th, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Business Owner Objectives, Exit Strategy, Personal Wealth, Transferring Business Ownership
In today’s Merger and Acquisition marketplace, an all-cash buyer is as rare as a balanced federal budget. Those buyers who do arrive at the closing table with cash in hand may not be over-burdened with huge bagfuls.
Almost as uncommon as the all-cash buyer is the offer of a valuation multiple that approaches (much less matches) [...]
Tainting the Marketplace
Posted on November 9th, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Exit Strategy, Transferring Business Ownership
So, you have decided to become a seller. You have determined that even though market conditions are not absolutely ideal, your company is saleable.
This scenario is reminiscent of a little boy who cried “Wolf!” In our context, the story usually begins when a buyer approaches you (unexpectedly) expressing an interest in acquiring your company. [...]
Your Banker: Forgotten Exit Planning Team Member?
Posted on November 4th, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Business Owner Objectives, Exit Strategy, Transferring Business Ownership
When time comes to tell your banker you’re planning to exit your business, or when you need money you may experience feelings ranging from mild anxiety to outright panic. Why? We’ve been conditioned to believe that bankers say “no” far more often than they say “yes.” That may or may not be true but bankers [...]
How Much Is All This Exit Planning Going To Cost?
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Business Owner Objectives, Exit Strategy, Increasing & Preserving Business Value, Transferring Business Ownership
Fictional owner, Peter Miller, had called his accountant to ask her to help him value his business with the idea of retiring in a few years. No stranger to Exit Planning, his accountant assembled all of Peter’s advisors and launched a complete Exit Planning process. She began, not with an examination of how a transfer [...]
Time: Too Much or Too Little?
Posted on October 22nd, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Business Continuity, Business Owner Objectives, Business Valuation, Exit Strategy, Increasing & Preserving Business Value, Personal Wealth, Transferring Business Ownership, Uncategorized
“Exit Planning? I’ll start soon—I’ve got plenty of time.”
“Exit Planning? I’m too busy. I just don’t have enough time.”
The problem with both of these statements is that active business owners seldom slow down. We all know that the only things likely to reduce your pace are death or terminal burn-out. This is not to imply [...]
Manage Short-Term with Endgame in Mind
Posted on May 27th, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Business Owner Objectives, Exit Strategy
Let’s review the four areas where business owners who want to both survive in today’s economic climate and emerge from it poised for growth (or sale) can focus their energies. As you may recall, those areas are:
Preserving and Protecting Value
Identifying Value and Cash Flow
Creating Revenue
Creating Value
Most owners are currently waist-deep in the first area: cutting [...]
Cash is King
Posted on May 14th, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Exit Strategy, Transferring Business Ownership
It may not be uncommon for a business owner to hear that one of his friends sold her business for a “six times multiple.” That owner’s first question to his own advisors typically is, “Can I get the same type of multiple if I sell my business?” The answer is “Yes and No.” To understand [...]
Having Your Employees Cash You Out of Your Business: Time is Money
Posted on February 24th, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Exit Strategy, Transferring Business Ownership
Many, probably most, business owners would like to sell their businesses to their employees, but for one nagging problem: Their employees have no money. The desire to sell out to employees collides with the overarching need for financial security. Owners simply cannot risk selling a business to employees who have no cash.
Take James Johnson, owner [...]
Should You Sell Your Company Now
Posted on February 12th, 2009 by Bay Area Business Sales
Filed under: Exit Strategy, Transferring Business Ownership
Should you sell your company now? Not only does the answer depend on you (how much fire you’ve got left in your belly) and on your exit goals (can a sale achieve your retirement needs?), it also depends on what you’ve got to sell, what industry you are in and M&A market conditions in your [...]