Articles
A Business Owner’s Report Card
How does someone else, for example, a potential buyer, rate your business on the issues listed below? Rate your business and yourself on the time-honored “A” to “F” scale. You can even use a plus or minus. What’s your average? Too many business owners operate on gut feel or “from the heart.” Nothing wrong with […]
Is It Time to Make Some Changes?
One of the major advantages of small and mid-sized businesses is that it is much easier to make changes with this category of business than it is with the larger kind. The larger company can become so mired in bureaucracy that it can’t turn on a dollar much less on a dime. Changes can be […]
Selling Price Defined
When the time comes to sell your business, what makes up the selling price. What is it that you are selling and the buyer is buying? It is important that the selling price be defined in such a way to avoid any confusion. Below you will find some sample wording used by business intermediaries to […]
Questions Business Buyers Want Answers To
If you are even thinking about selling your business, it’s important to know the questions that buyers generally want answers to. For example, the first question almost always asked by buyers is: If this is such a good business why is it for sale? How you answer this question can make or break a sale. […]
What Happens If?
You may not have any intention of selling your business today. But, what happens to your business if you get hit by a truck, fall ill or are injured in some other way making you unable to operate your business for a fairly long period of time? Will your spouse step in? Do you have […]
Increasing the Value of Your Business
Considering selling your business? Just want to increase the value of your business? Here are some areas to look at that can fairly quickly increase profits, which are, after all, a main building block in creating value. • PRICING: Are the prices of the products or services set too low? Owners too often continue with […]
Unreported Income: “Show Me the Money!”
Prospective buyers don’t want to hear about “what the business really makes” – they want to see the books and records that show what is down in black and white. Here is the old story about proper accounting procedures, or lack of: A Greek restaurant owner had his own bookkeeping system. He kept his accounts […]
The Highest Price Vs. The Best Deal
Naturally, sellers want the highest price they can get for their business. In come cases, however, it might not be the best deal. For this reason, every offer should be scrutinized carefully. When an offer is presented, the first thing a seller looks for is the price. If it is lower than anticipated, the seller’s […]
What’s Selling Now?
A recent survey revealed the following percentage breakdown of last year’s business sales by business types. The information was furnished by business brokerage firms nationally and compiled by Business Brokerage Press. Retail businesses 17% Food & Drink related business 14% Auto related businesses 9% Distribution type businesses 11% Manufacturing businesses 16% Service type businesses 25% […]
Where Your Business Is Located Can Affect Its Price
The most recent editions of BizComps, the leading resource for comparable sales data (www.bizcomps.com ) has some interesting information on small business pricing based on the three major regions of the country – Eastern states, the Central states and the Western states. They cover thousands of actual business sales over a ten year period. Here […]