When planning your exit strategy, you must consider how the owner wishes to transfer control of the business. The seven business transfer methods to consider are: Employees Charitable trusts Family Co-owners Outside buyers (followed by retirement of the current owner) Outside buyers (followed by the current owner working in the business for a...
In a previous blog I wrote about increasing the value of a privately-held IT company by building a culture of managing and reducing risk factors. In this post, I’ll cover four more areas where you can reduce uncertainty that will affect your company’s valuation. Adopt long-term...
In my previous blog I wrote about managing your costs to increase profitability and the value of your IT business. Let’s change gears and talk about something else that is related to value, but is more difficult to measure than sales and profits. I’m talking...
In my previous post I wrote about growing your sales as the surest way to increase the value of your business. The second method to boost your profitability is to lower your cost of goods sold (COGS) and expenses. Here are some ways to reduce...
In a previous post, I wrote about finding the value of your business and how it varies according to who’s in the market looking to buy (including the different types of buyers). But how can you systematically drive up the value of your company? Increasing the...
In this blog series we'll focus on building value in your business. Today I’d like to discuss the concept of “value” and what that means from a buyer’s perspective. In future articles, I’ll share ten ways to increase the value of a company. I’ll wrap up...
Many experts say no! These experts believe that only half of the valuing your business should be based on the financials (the number-crunching), with the other half of the business valuation based on non-financial information (the subjective factors). What subjective factors are they referring to? SWOT is...
"Exit strategies may allow you to get out before the bottom falls out of your industry. Well-planned exits allow you to get a better price for your business." From: Selling Your Business by Russ Robb, published by Adams Media Corporation Whether you plan to sell out in one year, five...
Selling one's business can be a traumatic and emotional event. In fact, "seller's remorse" is one of the major reasons that deals don't close. The business may have been in the family for generations. The owner may have built it from scratch or bought it...
Buyers consider buying a business for many of the same reasons that sellers consider selling a businesses. It is important that the buyer is as serious as the seller when it comes time to purchase a business. If the buyer is not serious, the sale...