FPA Owner Transitions

Business owners are always told they need to prepare in advance to sell their business, but why can’t they just up and sell it quickly?  The short answer is that it’s unlikely to sell that way.  Only 20% of businesses listed for sale actually sell, according to the Exit Planning Institute.  Listing it is easy. … Continue reading Why You Can’t Sell a Business Overnight

Purpose – “Having as one’s intention or objective.” Purpose after the sale is one of the biggest challenges for an exiting owner. For most owners, the driving motivation is this thing they’ve built. The company has a life of its own, but it’s a life they bestowed. They talk about the businesses growing pains and… Continue reading Purpose After the Sale

Even when business owners are comfortable with who they are, there are still lingering nuts and bolts issues with activity. An owner typically spends 30 or 40 years focused on running the business. Unless they’ve built a substantial organization that is run by the management team, it likely remains the owner’s biggest single time commitment… Continue reading Life After the Sale – Personal Vision

Once you have an understanding of the value of your business, you can better plan and prepare for life beyond the business. The sale of your business is typically a once in a lifetime event and it should be approached as such. However, the statistics show that owners have not approached it in this manner.… Continue reading Exit Planning

There are a vast number of factors that affect the multiple a business may receive in the market. There’s financial statement quality, owner dependency, customer concentration, barrier to entry, capital intensity (amount of equipment needed to operate), location, profitability, management, customer contracts and recurring revenue. Revenue at 40-60% of annual sales and SDE at 2-3.5x… Continue reading Business Valuations – Rules of Thumb