Insights
Straight answers, page 52
Offers & due diligence
Three Ways to Negotiate the Sale of a Business, and When to Use EachThree common negotiating approaches in a business sale, when each works, when it backfires, and why an intermediary helps.
Selling a business
Red Flags From Buyers: Warning Signs at Every Stage of a Business SaleThe buyer behaviors that signal a deal is in danger, stage by stage, and what to do when you see one.
Buying a business
Buying? Selling? Seven Key Points to ConsiderThe seven points buyers probe in every business sale, what each side should ask or prepare, and why one list serves buyer and seller alike.
Buying a business
Who Exactly Owns Personal Goodwill and Why Does it Matter?The difference between personal and business goodwill, who owns each, why it changes risk and taxes in a sale, and how deals are built around it.
Buying a business
Buying Another Company Before You Sell: When an Add-On Raises ValueWhen buying a smaller company a few years before you sell can raise your eventual price, and the risks that can make it backfire.
Selling a business
Selling Your Business From a Position of StrengthHow to sell as the owner being courted rather than the one pushing: timing, realistic pricing, the levers buyers value and momentum.
Valuation
Similar Companies Can Have Huge Value DifferencesWhy two companies with the same EBITDA can sell for very different prices, and the checklist buyers use to set each multiple.
Exit planning
Why Selling a Family Business Is Different: Eight Practical RulesEight rules that keep family dynamics from derailing a sale, from agreeing before going to market to preparing relatives for new management.
Selling a business
Start Early: Building the Advisor Team Before You Sell Your CompanyWho belongs on an owner's sale team, what each advisor does, and when to bring each one in so nobody is hired in a hurry.
Valuation
The Difficult Issues Often Attached to Valuing a BusinessThe six issues that most often complicate a valuation, how each shows up in an offer, and which ones an owner can fix in time.
Selling a business
What Do Buyers Want in a Company?How buyers test the quality, sustainability and accuracy of your earnings, and which add-backs survive their review.
Exit planning
Why Family-Owned Businesses Need an Exit Agreement Before a Buyer CallsA cautionary story of a family sale that collapsed, and the agreements and incentives that would have saved it.