A recent article from Small Business Trends entitled “41% of Entrepreneurs Will Leave Their Small Business Behind in 5 Years” summarizes a report by a global financial services firm that looks at business ownership and entrepreneurialism in modern America. The report found that almost 60% of...
2018 mergers and acquisitions are off to a strong start for technology companies, including software, tech services, media and information. There were 516 transactions in Q1, down 7% from Q1 2017, but the value of the deals totaled $71.1 billion, 124% more than Q1 2017,...
A great business is bought, not sold, so, if you look too eager to sell your business, you’ll be negotiating on your back foot and look desperate—a recipe for a bad exit. But, what if you really want to sell? Maybe you’ve got a new idea...
A recent article posted on PR Newswire entitled “Business owners' love of work may hinder succession planning” explains the parallels between the number of business owners with no plans to retire and the lack of succession planning. In a recent poll, over 70% of business owners...
It may be surprising but there are times when a buyer may value your management team and employees more than your products or revenue. Your key leaders, your research and development team, a strong sales force, or subject matter experts may be the missing piece...
If you’re trying to figure out what your business might be worth, it’s helpful to consider what acquirers are paying for companies like yours these days. A little Internet research will probably reveal that a business like yours trades for a multiple of your pre-tax profit,...
A recent article posted by The National Law Review entitled “Thinking of Selling? Start Early, Build Your Team” explains the importance of putting together a good team of trusted advisors well in advance of selling your business. Your team should include an attorney, accountant, investment banker,...
In the previous article in this series we discussed the importance of scalability and defensibility in building value in a company. A key means to achieving both is establishing unique intellectual property as an asset of the company. What is the ‘secret sauce’ that your company...
Have you ever wondered why startup companies stop growing? Sometimes they run out of potential customers to sell to or their product starts losing market share to a competitor, but there is often a more fundamental reason: the founder(s) lose the stomach for it. When you...
A recent article from Divestopedia entitled “To Sell Your Business, Start with the End in Mind” explains the importance of planning your exit strategy in the early stages of your business. The article points out that emotion plays a big part in humans’ decision making process, and when a potential buyer perceives that the owner has...