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Business Strategy Insights
What you don’t know about your business name can hurt you.
July 20, 2016 / in Business Strategy / by Al Statz
In my work as an M&A Broker and Business Valuation Expert, I’ve noticed that many business owners don’t understand how their trade names are protected. San Jose attorney David Burgess recently wrote an article addressing common fallacies in this area, which I felt compelled to pass along … 5 FALLACIES ABOUT PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS NAME by David C. Burgess, Esq. You have worked hard to choose the perfect name for your business. You want to be …
5 Strategies to Preserve Core Values during a Business Sale
May 25, 2016 / in Business Strategy, Sell a Business / by Adam Wiskind
For many owners selling their business is not a simple financial transaction, it’s personal. Owners have poured blood, sweat and tears into building a business that is not only profitable but represents their values as individuals. Their businesses become not just their livelihood but their self-worth and connection to some of their most important relationships. The business values and culture are reflected in the everyday interactions with clients, vendors and employees. Often owners live in …
Good Exit Planning: First and Foremost, A Valuation of the Company
December 28, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Exit Planning, Sell a Business / by Bob Altieri
With the baby boomer generation retirement rush beginning to take hold, many business owners lack sufficient information about the value of their business for retirement planning purposes and don’t foresee the deal killers that await them. A Deal Killer is a condition that, if undetected and unresolved before the sale of a business, will kill the transaction. The purpose of pre-sale planning is to maximize sale proceeds (as well as to achieve other non-financial goals), …
Simple Way to Avoid Stale Thinking and it’s Ugly Cousin Group-Think
August 26, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Exit Planning / by Al Statz
As a professional advisors we all have habits, standards, rules and regulations that direct much of our daily activities. It’s important that we constantly reexamine our preconceptions, processes and practices to avoid stale thinking. It’s easy to default to accepted dogma that might be hindering our work. This isn’t to say everyone needs to be on the absolute leading or bleeding edge of their profession. However, periodically challenging our thinking and methods helps stimulate us …
Pricing Methodologies in Buy-Sell Agreements
April 29, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Buy-Sell Agreements / by Jim Leonhard
When it comes to valuing a business for tax filings, M&A transactions, ESOP’s and most other purposes, business appraisers are usually free to use all of the methodologies in their arsenal. But, when it comes to Buy-Sell Agreements that govern the sale or exchange of interests among closely-held business owners, many of these agreements specify a fixed amount or formula to price equity interests. Recently our firm analyzed the valuation and funding-related provisions used in thirteen buy-sell …
Funding Your Buy-Sell Transactions
April 22, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Buy-Sell Agreements / by Al Statz
A properly structured Buy-Sell Agreement (BSA) ensures a market for owners’ equity when they leave the business, restricts the transfer of shares to unwanted parties, and lays out a set of rules and processes that mitigate the overall risk of uncertainty when a trigger event occurs. However, without having adequate funding mechanism(s) in place, a well-intentioned buy-sell agreement may not satisfy the shareholders needs when a trigger occurs. In this post I’ll briefly outline the …
How a Covenant not to Compete Affects Value in Buy-Sell Agreements
April 1, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Buy-Sell Agreements / by Al Statz
When someone sells a privately-held company, the buyer usually insists that the seller sign a covenant not to compete. In fact, in over 20 years of business sales and acquisitions, I have yet to see a purchase agreement without a covenant-not-to-compete (CNTC) provision. Now let’s say that your Company or its shareholders purchase all of a departing 50% shareholder’s interest for fair market value; is it reasonable to expect that the selling shareholder would not …
Success Habits of Optimistic People
March 4, 2015 / in Business Strategy / by Don Ross
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” “- Helen Keller The medical community has accepted the heavily subscribed opinion that optimism is a dynamic source of good health, reduced stress, and improved cardiovascular function. The successes that optimists are able to attain is largely a result of their expectation or visualization of success. They succeed because they expect to succeed. The following are habits that optimistic people …
Your Buy-Sell Agreement: In good shape? Needs a tune up? Or Disaster waiting to happen?
February 25, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Business Valuation, Buy-Sell Agreements / by Bob Altieri
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from business owners and their spouses that a key person became disabled or died and left an operating closely-held business in turmoil. What, no Buy-Sell Agreement? Ask anyone who has been selling and appraising business for a number of years and they will tell you this sort of thing is common. All businesses with more than one shareholder should have …
The Dismal D’s of Buy-Sell Agreements
January 28, 2015 / in Business Strategy, Buy-Sell Agreements, Exit Planning / by Al Statz
Well-written Buy-Sell Agreements (BSA’s) enable orderly share transfers upon the occurrence of certain events during the life of a business. Buy-Sell Agreements also prevent litigation that can quickly create a lose-lose situation for business owners. This article presents a list of 27 trigger events and common issues to be addressed in Buy-Sell Agreements. And, just for fun, each item on the list begins with “D”. Buy-sell issues are unpleasant to think about; which is why …