Deciding the market value of a business is the most difficult part of the selling process. Business owners often have misconceptions, believing the business is worth more than the market value. A broker or a business valuation service is the best bet in determining a value that is in line with what the market is willing to pay for the business. The largest component in determining business value is deciphering how much money the business makes. The financial statements are

Exit planning provides the road map to control your own destiny; to successfully sell your business and transition to the next stage of your life. “If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else!”  Yogi Berra An exit plan helps to establish realistic business, personal and financial goals with a path to achievement.  Your desires in these three aspects of your life must be consistent. Like a road map, you need to know where you are before

7 years ago, TVG represented a seller who was anxious to sell his business so he could enjoy the fruits of his labor. Like most sellers he had a number in mind he wanted for the business and wasn’t too keen on the deal structure so long the purchase price matched the desired asking price. We were able to secure a buyer who offered the seller the number he wanted, however, it included a significant amount of seller financing. Despite

To ensure your business is healthy and ready to sell, it is important to reduce customer concentration by diversifying the client base. It is a disadvantage when business owners focus all their energy on only their major customers.  To ensure a healthy mix of customers business owners should build relationships with current customers while seeking new customers. A general rule of customer mix is any customer over 10% of the business is too big. A diversified client base is beneficial

You’ve made the decision to buy a business; now you must find the right deal. The best business opportunities are found by using all or some of the resources listed below.  Traditionally, buyers seek multiple business intermediaries to locate and handle a business purchase transaction. Business intermediaries have access to databases for buyer-directed searches and often to opportunities in advance of other buyers. Questions to ask when interviewing prospective intermediaries:  Are they in a brokerage network?  Do they use this

The Vant Group represented the buyer in a Defense Contractor business acquisition. The company recently secured a large new contract making it a perfect fit for the buyer. The seller accepted a purchase offer of $4.1MM. Because the company financials did not reflect the revenue from the newly acquired contract, the bank returned a loan amount that was lower than the purchase price.  The original offer was fair, and the seller needed that price to dispose of their debt and