Whether you want to sell your business next year or a decade from now, you will have two basic options for an external sale: the financial or the strategic buyer. The Financial Buyer The financial buyer is buying the rights to your future profit stream, so the more profitable your business is expected to be, […]

Business valuation goes beyond simple mathematics. To get some idea of what your business might be worth, consider the three methods below. Your business is likely your largest asset so it’s normal to want to know what it is worth. The problem is: business valuation is what one might call a “subjective science.” The science […]

Diversification is a sound financial planning strategy, but does it work for company building? Have you ever wondered how Vitamix get away with charging $700 for a blender when reputable companies like Cuisinart and Breville make blenders for less than half the price? We know we have! It’s because Vitamix does just one thing, and […]

Making your business less dependent on you has a number of benefits: you can scale your company more quickly if you’re not acting as a bottleneck; you get more time to enjoy life outside of your business; and a business less dependent on its owner is much more valuable to an acquirer. Pulling yourself out […]

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Even […]

If you’re wondering when is the right time to sell your business, you may want to wait until your company is generating $1 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). What’s so special about the million-dollar mark? The million-dollar mark is a tipping point at which the number of buyers interested in […]

What are your business goals for the year? If you’re like most owners, you have a profit goal you want to hit. You may also have a top line revenue number that’s important to you. While those goals are important, there is another objective that may have an even bigger payoff: building a sellable business. […]

If you were to draw a picture that visually represents your role in your business, what would it look like? Are you at the top of a traditional Christmas-tree-like organizational chart, or are you stuck in the middle of your business, like a hub in a bicycle wheel? As anyone who has tried to fly […]

The value of your company is partly determined by your industry. For example, cloud-based software companies are generally worth a lot more than printing companies these days. However, when we analyze businesses in the same industry, we still see major variations in valuation. So we dug through the data and we found 10 things that […]