Those of us searching for good news about credit availability find the search to be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. Recent changes to the Small Business Administration’s 7(A) guaranty loan program provide one such shiny needle for owners of companies with purchase prices between $400,000 and $4 million.
Under new rules, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Many business owners facing imminent exit have the enviable but difficult choice of either selling the business to an outside third party and achieving their financial objectives or, conversely, transferring the business to loyal motivated key employees or family. This is nothing more, or less, than a clash of exit objectives.
Take John Conover for example. [...]

Stan Briggs was perplexed and that’s why he told his advisor, “My son, Patrick, has worked in the business for the last twelve years. In that time, the business has tripled its revenues and its profits. I’ve started to think about scaling back my activity and I realize how important it is (for my own [...]

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 [...]

If you contemplate transferring your business to an insider (employees, children or co-owner) and you want to get paid the value of your business, then, generally speaking, the value of your business cannot exceed four times the true cash flow of the business. We have defined true cash flow as the amount of pre-tax money [...]

“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 [...]

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 [...]

“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 [...]