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 [...]

In previous posts, we have discussed importance of value drivers: the intrinsic characteristics of a company that buyers look for when deciding what company to buy and how much to pay. We’ve talked about how important value drivers are in a successful sale and consequently how it is the work of the owner (not employees) [...]

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” — Yogi Berra
It is not always easy to interpret Yogi. In this case, perhaps he is advising you to figure out just where you are headed in your business. As you near the time when you [...]

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 [...]

“My investment advisor suggested that I sell my company to an ESOP. Is that a good idea?”
My estate planning attorney recommended that I begin giving my business to my children. What do you think?”
“I’m getting tired of running my business every day. My accountant thinks a sale to a third party is a good [...]