Proper Benchmarks To Consider When Buying A Business For Sale

August 21, 2010

Buying a business for sale is a multi-step process and each step is important. You should never think about proceeding to the next position until the preceding step is complete and whatever you do, don’t be tempted to short-cut ever. You can view any time spent in preparation and in the revelation of facts and figures about the business to be well spent and as such you will be ensuring that no horror stories come back to haunt you when you take over.

A lot of information can be revealed before you even talk to a prospective seller. One of the most important questions you must ask yourself before you go forward is what kind of enthusiasm you possess for the type of business you have your eye on. Do you really want to be involved in that industry and does it represent an area that you truly want to be engrossed in? Be advised, that unless you want to be a completely “absentee” owner and are considering the many additional steps that you need to take if this is the case, you should be enthusiastic about the business that you are getting involved in.

A process of due diligence requires you to inspect all kinds of documentation:

* Financials: these documents will include balance sheets, payroll records, tax reports, reconciliation documents and profit and loss statements. If the seller claims a considerable amount of “cash sales” but cannot point to these within tax declarations, then they cannot be counted and you must ignore them.

* Employee records: including information on individual behavior, attendance, length of service and pay scales.

* Licenses: including federal, state, city, county as appropriate, plus any certification licenses you must possess to operate the business. It would be in your best interests to look at records independently, certainly if you believe there may have been any problems in the past or possible discrepancies.

* Equipment records: including age, depreciation, maintenance, replacement cost, and any required inspections.

* Inventory records: re-saleability, turnover and overall condition.

* Supplier contracts: are they transferable, do you have alternatives and is there goodwill?

* Property records: are any rental agreements transferable to you without any problem, as this can be particularly important.

If you find that all records, licenses, contracts and agreements are in order and are workable for you going forward, you may be wondering how to arrive at a good value when you buy business assets. A number of different ways to look at this exist. Some of the methods used to calculate include:

* Asset-based multipliers, where assets are totalled and value is determined.

* Rule of thumb, where industry benchmarks are used to establish the value (not recommended).

* Revenue-based multipliers – a percentage is applied to monthly or annual revenues (not recommended).

* Cash flow multiplier, is where a business owner’s profit level is added to his or her salary and any other perks and certain expenses are deducted. This method is most commonly used to determine the value of a business.

While there are many documents and figures that can be proven to backup an owner’s claim, or not as the case may be, you need to take into account significant facts. What is the age and reputation of the business, the level of competition expected, its physical location in many cases, the legal structure of the business, the quality of the premises and/or the difficulty in obtaining a new lease. When looking at a business for sale, take everything into account as you determine whether you should buy a business like this.

Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream to buy a business.

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Useful Tips For Buying A Real World Business For Sale

July 27, 2010

Do you see the prospect of buying an existing business for sale as being a leap in the dark, as this discourages many an enterprising individual? If they have never been involved in such a transaction before, it can seem to be very alien. After all, it is not like buying a more tangible product like a vehicle or a house, where in many respects “what you see is what you get.” To value a business correctly, you need to look at a number of different intangibles as well as assets that need to be inspected and you also need to consider goodwill in many situations. Goodwill certainly comes into the equation in a service related business, as does a good client list and as such your process of due diligence will require you to explore and reveal quite a lot as you inspect different documents accordingly.

It’s important to remember that there are two distinct and different viewpoints. The seller will have a clear indication of the worth that he or she places on the business. This may often be inflated by a natural enthusiasm and the sheer amount of hard work and dedication that may have been put into the business to this point. Never disrespect the sellers’ point of view of course, but look at the documentation and evidence that you will find in the cold light of day and remember that it is entirely up to you to determine if you’re going to get involved and buy business interests in this way, according to your value parameters.

When you decide that you want to move forward and investigate whether to buy a business of interest, understand that this may be a lengthy process. At this time, you had better have a good level of common sense and humor and be ready to communicate at length with the seller.

It is highly recommended that you bring in expert advisers and utilize proven resources, especially if you have no real experience of running a business in this line, or niche. This is not to say that you will simply hand off all the work to these advisers, barely looking at the documentation presented to you, as the decision-making must in the end be made by you and you alone. Be prepared to review all documentation and financials yourself first and be sure that you get a reasonable feeling about them all before handing them off for further processing.

A red flag will be raised if some of the financial documents are incomplete, information is missing, or they are poorly balanced or even not reconciled. Certain precedents must be maintained and accounting procedures completed. You may be asked to sign some non-disclosure or non-compete documents before these are made available, but the financials are the rock upon which everything else is built.

No two businesses are alike and every operation is dynamic in its own right. So many external influences are involved and any number of different events can come to bear to create a variety of different situations. You will undoubtedly uncover some surprises and come across unusual figures and facts, but remember that while industry benchmarks are definitely of interest, you are focused on real-world information here.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

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Crucial Guidelines On Benchmarks When Buying A Business For Sale

May 7, 2010

Don’t have any confusion about it, buying a business for sale is a multi-step process with each step being essential. Many times you may not proceed to the next position until you complete the preceding step and you should never be tempted to short-cut the process at all. You can view any time spent in preparation and in the revelation of facts and figures about the business to be well spent and as such you will be ensuring that no horror stories come back to haunt you when you take over.

Before you even start to talk to a prospective seller, a great deal of information can be revealed. One of the most important questions you must ask yourself before you go forward is what kind of enthusiasm you possess for the type of business you have your eye on. Is the industry that you are looking at of particular interest to you and do you really want to get actively involved in everything that it represents? Be advised, that unless you want to be a completely “absentee” owner and are considering the many additional steps that you need to take if this is the case, you should be enthusiastic about the business that you are getting involved in.

A process of due diligence requires you to inspect all kinds of documentation:

* Employee records: including information on individual behavior, attendance, length of service and pay scales.

* Licenses: including federal, state, city, county as appropriate, plus any certification licenses you must possess to operate the business. Be prepared to consult records independently to see if there have been any discrepancies or problems in the past.

* Equipment records: including age, depreciation, maintenance, replacement cost, and any required inspections.

* Inventory records: re-saleability, turnover and overall condition.

* Supplier contracts: are they transferable, do you have alternatives and is there goodwill?

* Property records: including rental agreements and portability – the latter element is of considerable importance.

* Asset-based multipliers, where assets are totalled and value is determined.

* Rule of thumb, where industry benchmarks are used to establish the value (not recommended).

* Revenue-based multipliers – a percentage is applied to monthly or annual revenues (not recommended).

* Cash flow multiplier – where the business owner’s profit is added to the salary and realized perks, with a number of expenses deducted. This method is most commonly used to determine the value of a business.

While there are many documents and figures that can be proven to backup an owner’s claim, or not as the case may be, you need to take into account significant facts. You need to look at the reputation and age of the business, what level of competition you may expect, the existing legal structure, quality and physical location of the premises and last but by no means least, the difficulty in obtaining a new lease. When looking at a business for sale, take everything into account as you determine whether you should buy a business like this.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

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Great Points For Buying A Profitable Business With Due Diligence

February 24, 2010

If you have not engaged in something like this before, buying business assets can be quite a daunting prospect. While it may be somewhat easier than establishing your own operation from scratch, understand that you are taking on, in many respects, the liabilities of somebody who is a complete stranger to you. To start off, you will be presented with many internal documents and will be able to look at the inner workings of the business for sale, but you must essentially be able to read between the lines and must not veer off-line, so a due diligence checklist is essential.

While a majority of business owners are enthusiastic and diligent people, have put a great deal of effort into their creation and would love nothing more than for the business to be continued and nurtured by a careful owner, you can never assume that this is the case. Please don’t think that this means you have to assume the worst in all cases, but it does unfortunately mean that you cannot take any statement at face value and you must look for proof in all cases to back up claims made. Always ensure that you employ the services of expert analysts as required when you buy a business, including accountants, financiers and business experts.

Primarily, you are now engaged in the process of setting value. Undoubtedly, each of the parties – the buyer and seller, will have a different interpretation of the value of the business. You will not come to an agreement or deal unless both parties are happy, but always bear in mind that you have to set the specifics under which a deal is likely to be made.

If you buy a business, a number of steps have to be taken as you go through your due diligence checklist and as you proceed, all the inner workings of the business will be revealed to you. You may hear references made to industry benchmarks, and they may be useful for information gathering but you should not rely on them. In the majority of cases you will always want to rely on the most recent data and while there are many documents to check, the financials are of paramount importance. Never be tempted to gloss over some of the less palatable financial figures, if a specific business asset appears to be of particular interest to you.

Some of the important factors to consider when assessing the value of a business for sale include the scope and level of services on offer and the potential for expansion, the age and established nature of the organization and, most certainly, its reputation in the marketplace. Get a good impression of the competition in the industry and in the local area and understand that location may be the most important asset of all. If the business you are considering is principally Internet-based, it may not even have a “bricks and mortar” location. While the physical location in this case may be of no consequence, make sure that you understand the importance of conducting a thorough “due diligence” process, come what may.

Time spent going through this process of revelation as you work your way through your due diligence checklist, will be well worthwhile. This entire process may take you weeks rather than days, especially if you need to analyse daily operations, client interaction and staff behaviour, for example. As such, you should never be overly anxious to go ahead to close a deal and should be prepared, rather, for the lengthy process you are likely to endure.

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Clear Ideas On Benchmarks When Buying A Business For Sale

February 23, 2010

Don’t have any confusion about it, buying a business for sale is a multi-step process with each step being essential. You should never think about proceeding to the next position until the preceding step is complete and whatever you do, don’t be tempted to short-cut ever. You can view any time spent in preparation and in the revelation of facts and figures about the business to be well spent and as such you will be ensuring that no horror stories come back to haunt you when you take over.

A lot of information can be revealed before you even talk to a prospective seller. But hold on for just a second, are you really sure that you possess the level of enthusiasm you need for this type of business? Is the industry that you are looking at of particular interest to you and do you really want to get actively involved in everything that it represents? Be advised, that unless you want to be a completely “absentee” owner and are considering the many additional steps that you need to take if this is the case, you should be enthusiastic about the business that you are getting involved in.

When you are conducting your due diligence, make sure that you inspect all documentation:

* Employee records: including longevity, pay scales, behavior, and attendance.

* Equipment records: detailing the age, cost of replacement, any required inspections and associated results and details on maintenance investments.

* Inventory records: including turnover, condition, and re-saleability.

* Supplier contracts: are they transferable, do you have alternatives and is there goodwill?

* Property records: are any rental agreements transferable to you without any problem, as this can be particularly important.

* Asset-based multipliers, are where a total value of the assets is used to determine a value.

* Rule of thumb, where industry benchmarks are used to establish the value (not recommended).

* Revenue-based multipliers – a percentage is applied to monthly or annual revenues (not recommended).

While there are many documents and figures that can be proven to backup an owner’s claim, or not as the case may be, you need to take into account significant facts. You need to look at the reputation and age of the business, what level of competition you may expect, the existing legal structure, quality and physical location of the premises and last but by no means least, the difficulty in obtaining a new lease. When it comes to a business for sale, all will help you to determine whether you should buy a business like this, or not.

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Valuable Ideas For Buying A Real World Business For Sale

February 20, 2010

Do you see the prospect of buying an existing business for sale as being a leap in the dark, as this discourages many an enterprising individual? The entire concept can be very alien if you’ve never been involved in these types of transaction before. After all, it is not like buying a more tangible product like a vehicle or a house, where in many respects “what you see is what you get.” To value a business correctly, you need to look at a number of different intangibles as well as assets that need to be inspected and you also need to consider goodwill in many situations. In a service related business, goodwill and a maintainable client list can be critical elements, but the process of due diligence involves the revelation and exploration of numerous areas and documents.

It’s important to remember that there are two distinct and different viewpoints. The seller will be very clear about the business and how much it is worth to him or her. Expect to see a certain amount of natural enthusiasm, as a lot of hard work and dedication has undoubtedly been put into the business by the outgoing seller. While you should always maintain an element of respect for the sellers’ point of view, you must look at all documentation and evidence in the hard light of day and understand that it is up to you to determine if you should buy business interests according to the specific value you set.

After you decide you need to move forward and you have really determined whether you want to buy a business of interest, get ready for a very lengthy process. During the entire process you must maintain a level of common sense and good humor and be prepared to cultivate a strong level of communication with the seller.

This is where expert advisers will come into their own and if you have no real experience with this kind of business, its related market or niche, utilize proven resources and get as much help as you can. Don’t think that you can just hand off all the documentation and essentially the decision-making to these people, however, as the decision must be made, in the end, by you! The financial documents and all of the paperwork must be reviewed by you first to be sure that you have a great feeling initially before you hand them over for further processing by your experts.

Always be wary if some of the financial documents are either missing or incomplete, or are not balanced and reconciled correctly. Accounting traditions and precedents must be maintained at all times. Don’t be surprised if the seller will ask you to sign a non-compete and/or non-disclosure document before any financials are made available to you, because these financials are nevertheless the rock upon which the entire business is set.

No two businesses are alike and every operation is dynamic in its own right. There are so many different events that can come to bear to create such a variety of external influences and situations at any time. Expect to uncover some unusual facts and figures or surprises and remember that, while industry benchmarks are interesting, a lot of the information you discover here will be a function of real-world activities.

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Uncovering The Real Numbers In A Business For Sale

January 31, 2010

When a prospective buyer is making an effort to find out whether or not they’re going to buy a particular business for sale, there are a variety of buy business factors to carefully consider. When prospects arise, quite apart from the question of suitability, location and longevity, the issue of real-world business valuation is front and center. At this point, the seller will provide financial documentation – and it is, of course, very much in their best interests to present their business for sale in a “glowing” light. As such, the issue of “add backs” is likely to represent one of the thorniest problems.

In a majority of cases, add backs are included to try and present the operation from a real world perspective. When compiling traditional accounting reports, it’s essential to adhere to a set of very rigid standards – there may also be additional footnotes to consider, and depending on your point of view, these can be either positive or negative. When you’re thinking about buying a business, it’s crucial that you carefully scrutinize each and every add back, as they can often make a significant difference in your final valuation figure.

When conducting a process of due diligence, it can be a fairly straightforward procedure to check recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and against reconciled bank accounts. Far more often than you might think however, the current owner will strive to draw your attention to points which may be “one-time” instances, or to extra income which might not actually appear anywhere in the books at all. You should be open to all suggestions of course but maintain a degree of skepticism at all times until you are able to validate the claims, or otherwise.

Don’t forget that for an item to be claimed as a “one off,” it must not have occurred during any of the previous years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

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Undertake Due Diligence When Purchasing Your Internet Business

January 29, 2010

The process of due diligence is essential when looking to buy website business enterprise. It is estimated that up to 50% of all deals can fall apart during this process and this is most often due to some misrepresentations during the initial discovery, but can also often be due to an inadequate assessment by the buyer, leading to cold feet.

When you purchase an online business, you may face particular challenges not seen in a “bricks and mortar” operation. You will need to focus on the very composition of the business itself, which will be structured around the website and technology used, understand the products and services being sold, get to know who the customers are as well as the employees (especially the tech people), go through the financials and any legal issues associated with this type of business. When all said and done, you’re the one who has to be satisfied with the marketing initiatives which are under way for the core website, become an expert at generating traffic and search for expansion opportunities on a daily basis. Remember that this is much more than just a website for sale.

With an online venture, marketing is highly important, but the technology and software used to determine the composition of the website are equally so. The website is the “window on the world” for this business, and you need to be happy with the way it has been constructed. You must get the owner to give you a full tour of the website, including the front-end and back-end, understanding the way that customers will interact with it and how transactions are handled. Find out how the website was built, if it was developed internally, who owns the source code if this is applicable, how it is managed. If any of this process is controlled by the owner, consider an agreement with him or her, following any purchase, to be available for a certain period of time in case of questions and especially of emergencies. If the entire process is outsourced, it’s crucial that you speak to the individuals doing this work before agreeing to any kind of deal.

During your initial thought making processes, you should ask yourself whether you are happy to be involved with the ongoing maintenance, coding issues, updates and all elements of website operation or whether you will be outsourcing this. Pay particular attention to how transactions are handled, credit cards processed, security and safety.

When you look at the products or services on offer by the business, consider if there is any type of exclusivity. If not, you may likely face opposition from competitors down the road. Does the business rely on certain suppliers? If so consider whether these are reliable or whether there are any alternative sources of supply available.

Marketing is everything when it comes to an Internet-based operation and you want to get a full understanding for the type of customer that you will have to deal with. Does the business market directly to consumers or to other businesses? You will need to be able to identify the unique selling proposition and the value-added benefit that the operation represents to your customers. Your support structure should be over and above and every element of the business should be aimed at over delivering to the client.

If the business has employees, take time to understand them. For people coming from a traditional corporate environment, this may involve a process of adjustment. Often they will find that the more “creative” types are a little unconventional – will this cause a potential conflict of understanding, loyalty or respect? Be wary if the operation of the business relies heavily on one particular individual or another due to their skills and consider whether you should have a “non-compete” clause of some kind in place? You will definitely need a robust non-compete with the owner!

In addition to your focus on regular financial information and ratios, consider what you might need to do to establish new merchant operations for yourself if need be. A business such as this will process almost all transactions through credit cards or online checks and it is really easy to look at histories and see whether there are any significant charge backs of any kind.

Often the value of a website can be in its domain name. Check to identify the owner of the domain name through one of the registration sites online. You should also check to see where the site is hosted and how easy it would be to assume any of these agreements. Check on the material published on their website to see whether it is original and not plagiarized in any way.

We said that marketing is everything. Do you have a good “gut feeling” for this type of business yourself? This may be important. Always ask the seller to explain their main marketing initiatives and how they have worked in the past. Make a good note of any marketing programs that did not work so that you do not try them again, at least in that type of form. Tracking and testing is very important in this sphere, so check to see what methods they used.

When you’re evaluating an Internet business, be aware of how radical or unusual it may be. Is there any possibility that regulation will be introduced in future to significantly affect its very existence? Remember that this has happened in the past, and you don’t want to be the proud owner of a new business who faces such a threat in the short term.

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Advanced SEO Services For Intensifying Your Article Marketing Strategy

January 2, 2010

The Internet in general can seem confusing to non-specialists, with little apparent structure, but it represents a wealth of information on just about any subject, especially the incredible potential of seo services. Search giant Google estimated in 2008 that there were over 8 trillion individual webpages, backing up other findings that well over 110 million actual websites exist. Amazing, indeed. The challenge facing the webmaster is surely one of differentiation – how to set the content within apart from the other, similar pages in existence and furthermore, how to convince the surfer and would-be client that this particular content is worthy of consideration?

There is a wealth of competition available and for any one individual effort to work it has to stand well apart from all the rest and signify something different. This is all about creating credibility and trust. One of the best ways of doing this is to engage in an article marketing campaign, one of the most established methods in the industry.

Trust is not given, it must be earned and this is also true when it comes to Internet marketing. As a webmaster, if you have a site devoted to products and services, your task is to convince potential clients to buy from you. This will require you to become an established and trusted expert, a representative of your niche in their eyes.

Article marketing, one of a raft of available seo services, arose from a need to communicate credibility, expertise and stability. It takes a long time to set all of this up and a concerted process to achieve a result. This is where a majority of website owners fall down, as they believe that you can simply distribute a few articles and the magic will start to happen. The truth is that article marketing is a medium to long-term initiative, that is unrivalled in its ability to expose your site and place it firmly in the cross-hairs of the potential buyer.

To be successful in Internet marketing, you need to own your niche and subject. Your goal is firstly to educate and secondly to convince the would-be buyer that he or she should trust you with the purchase. A full analysis of your business is required to start off with. What is it that you’re selling? Identify the keywords associated with your wares and there will undoubtedly be many. This is because potential clients will be using those very words to search for information relevant to their needs.

Count on a lot of research before you begin your campaign. Don’t aim to publish any information or distribute it unless you know that it is focused, well researched, beneficial and could potentially lead to business income in the future. Your ultimate goal is to distribute this quality information, together with appropriate links to your site, where readers can get further information and may be enticed to buy your products and services. Remember that once your articles are distributed, they will generally be available for a long time, making article marketing even more appealing and a core requirement when choosing seo services.

Michelle Dale is Chief Executive of Virtual Miss Friday, an adept and highly-proficient Virtual Assistant Service which works closely with enterprising people who really want to succeed in their chosen field. If you’d like to learn more about online business building success strategies that are tailored to your needs, contact VMF today!

Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Blogs**, **Business**, **Internet**, **Marketing**, **VMF**, **eBusiness**, Advertising, Development, Promotion, Writing | Comments

Using Online Marketing Services To Maximise Your Website Development Strategies

December 31, 2009

The Internet is all about good content. The great Bill Gates first said that “content is king,” and he was certainly right on the money. Each website on the Internet has content to tell us what the page is all about and this content is generally composed within articles. Almost invariably, you will face a lot of competition in your niche and you will need to set yourself apart in some way, most likely through the creation of outstanding content to help you. It is certain that article writing, as a skill, will continue to increase from the level of high demand that it occupies today. You can spend as much time as you want on design and optimisation, but if you have poorly put together content you will fail. If visitors do not like what they are reading or do not immediately perceive value, they will quickly click away to some place else.

Through article writing you definitely establish your credibility and give people a reason to buy from you. Entertainment, education and information are three critical components of well structured articles and content. This is not the Internet of old and it is no longer possible to throw up any old content, put your main keywords within as often as possible and try and gain ranking advances this way. The search engine algorithms are now very intuitive and have been programmed to decipher the content of your articles. You may never have heard of latent semantic indexing, but this process allows the engines to see if your content really contains any relevant, related or secondary keywords as well. In this way they will be able to determine if content is purposeful and relates to the primary subject, due to the existence (or otherwise) of words and phrases that typically complement the prime words.

A lot of people do not have the time, nor the relevant skill to put together and provide great article content. In this case, they are better off employing the services of a professional virtual assistant, skilled in LSI, web content composition and optimisation. Make no mistake about it, article composition must be right at the top of your list of website development tasks for the new year as you commence your Internet marketing initiatives.

Articles can be used in a variety of ways. They can form the content on your website development, detailing uses for your products or services, or they can be used to compile newsletters, which are sent out to your e-mail lists. Remember that an e-mail membership program is one of the best ways to promote your business. Allocate a regular page or section of your website to help you capture names and e-mail addresses. When trying to collect contact details, offer the prospect something really nice in return and help to convince him or her that you can give them great information on your niche. Once again though, remember that content is king and your e-mail newsletters should contain great educational information, not a hard sell! When you select a professional content writer, remember that you will need regular posts for your blog as well….

Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday, an Executive Virtual Assistant who assists businesses and individuals with achieving their professional goals. Want to find out more about online business building success strategies? Contact VMF Now!

Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Blogs**, **Business**, **Internet**, **Marketing**, **Media**, **Motivate**, **VMF**, **eBusiness**, Advertising, Development, Everything Else, Promotion, Writing | Comments