Sell-side Mergers and Acquisitions.
The market for Selling and Acquiring Businesses is still strong! Sellers are receiving multiple offers, but the ‘chosen’ Buyers aren’t always the ones writing the biggest checks. Decide what you want! Is a lower price OK if it ensures that the buyer is a better fit for your culture? Or… Read More »Identify Top Priorities
The most likely reason a business sale fails is NOT the purchase price or structure/terms. It is time … death by delays. As days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, Sellers and Buyers experience frustration and fatigue. From vacationing attorneys to disorganized brokers to lien holders and licensing… Read More »What Kills All Deals – TIME!
As you build a strong management team and work on transitioning yourself out of the business, be sure to enjoy vacations in the year or so prior to selling. Buyers look for businesses that can run—and run well—without your constant attention. Stop and think for a moment. If you took… Read More »Increase the Value of Your Company – Take a 3 Week Vacation!
In the sale of a business, confidentiality is VERY important. What happens when your critical employees must be informed prior to the sale? We recommend stay bonuses. A stay bonus incentivizes key employees to cooperate and assist with your sale. How much should the bonus be? There is no set… Read More »Should a Business Owner Provide a “Stay Bonus”?
Almost all businesses were affected by COVID in 2020. For the most part, businesses fell in one of two camps: the COVID Slump or the COVID Bump. Hospitality businesses, including restaurants, predominantly fell into the slump. Gyms may lose customers permanently (or at least for the foreseeable future) as people… Read More »Bump or Slump: COVID Impact on Business Value
Sellers and Buyers of businesses tend to have different opinions on adjusted financials that add back discretionary bonuses. They can come to an agreement upon understanding the meaning and timing of bonuses. The most important question to answer is “Are the employees really receiving a ‘discretionary’ bonus?” If employees have… Read More »Bonuses: To Adjust or Not to Adjust
Business owners are burned out, worn out, and past ready to get out. More than 1 in 4 business owners who put their business on the market this spring did so because of burnout according to the first-quarter survey of business brokers and M&A advisors conducted by IBBA and M&A… Read More »Burnout & Unsolicited Offers: Why Business Owners SOLD in 2021 Q1 and Q2!
Business owners are burned out, worn out, and past ready to get out. More than 1 in 4 business owners who put their business on the market this spring did so because of burnout according to the first-quarter survey of business brokers and M&A advisors conducted by IBBA and M&A… Read More »More Business Owners Selling Due to Burnout
Spanx founder Sara Blakely and her husband Jesse Itzler were asked, “What is the biggest characteristic that contributes to future success?” Ponder for a moment … how do you answer this? Are you coming up with some of the standard answers I’ve heard: Intelligence? Strategic thinking? Vision or subject matter… Read More »Grit = Success
Having talked with 100s of buyers and potential business buyers at all levels, there are 3 issues that we hear consistently: “I’m looking for a business with a minimum cash flow of X….” or some variety of that statement. X is the amount that the business provides the buyer after… Read More »Thinking of Selling Your Business: What Buyers Want!