Sellers generally desire all-cash transactions; however, oftentimes some form of seller financing is necessary in business sale transactions. Furthermore, sellers who demand all-cash deals typically receive a lower purchase price than they would have if the deal were structured differently. Although buyers may be able to pay all-cash at closing, they often want to structure a deal where the seller has left some portion of the price on the table, either in the form of a note or an earnout. Deferring some of the owner’s remuneration from the transaction will provide leverage in the event that the owner has misrepresented the business. An earnout is a mechanism to provide payment based on future performance. Acquirers like to suggest that, if the business is as it is represented, there should be no problem with this type of payout. The owner’s retort is that he or she knows the business is sound under his or her management but does not know whether the buyer will be as … [Read more...]
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How Employees Factor into the Success of Your Business
Quality employees are essential for the long-term success and growth of any business. Many entrepreneurs learn this simple fact far too late. Regardless of what kind of business you own, a handful of key employees can either make or break you. Sadly, businesses have been destroyed by employees that don’t care, or even worse, are actually working to undermine the business that employs them. In short, the more you evaluate your employees, the better off you and your business will be. Forbes’ article “Identifying Key Employees When Buying a Business”, from Richard Parker does a fine job in encouraging entrepreneurs to think more about how their employees impact their businesses and the importance of factoring in employees when considering the purchase of a business. As Parker states, “One of the most important components when evaluating a business for sale is investigating its employees.” This statement does not only apply to buyers. Of course, with this fact in mind, sellers … [Read more...]
Who Are Potential Buyers?
Once a business owner has made the decision to sell, he or she should be aware of the variety of possible business buyers. Just as small business itself has become more sophisticated, the people interested in buying businesses have also become more divergent and complex. The following are some of today's most active categories of business buyers: Family Members Members of the seller's own family form a traditional category of business buyer – a category of buyers that is “tried” but not always "true." There is something appealing about a family member taking over the business. There is a sense of keeping the business in the family and an assumption that such an arrangement will translate into the prime advantage of continuity. Continuity may in fact be the result as long as the family member buying the business treats the role as something akin to a hierarchical responsibility. This can mean years of planning and diligent preparation, involving all or many members of the family … [Read more...]
