If you’ve ever Googled “what multiple is my business worth,” you’ve probably seen some version of this: a generic table with a column of industries and a column of numbers. And you’ve probably wondered — is any of this real? Where does it come from? And does it actually apply to your business? Fair questions. […]
If you’ve ever wondered what your business is actually worth — not what you hope it’s worth, not what your gut tells you — you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common questions we hear from business owners, and honestly, it’s one of the most misunderstood. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: your business isn’t worth […]
Picture this: you’ve spent six months in a sale process. You’ve signed the LOI. The buyer agreed to a $3.2M purchase price. You’ve been mentally spending that money — paying off the mortgage, funding retirement, maybe buying that piece of land you’ve had your eye on. Then the closing statement arrives. The wire transfer hits […]
Here’s a conversation that happens thousands of times a year in business brokers’ offices across the country. A business owner walks in, sits down, and says: “I’ve been running this business for 22 years. I’ve put everything into it. I know what it’s worth.” The broker nods, pulls up the financials, runs the numbers — […]
Every buyer who sits across the table from you — whether they’re an individual operator, a private equity firm, or a strategic acquirer — is running a scorecard on your business before they ever write a number on a piece of paper. Most sellers don’t know the scorecard exists. They think the conversation is about […]
Selling a business is the most significant financial transaction most owners will ever make. The proceeds fund retirement, family legacy, the next venture, or simply the freedom to do something different. And yet most business owners spend more time planning a vacation than planning their exit. The result is predictable: businesses that sit on the […]
Add-backs are one of the most powerful tools in a business seller’s arsenal — and one of the most abused. Done right, a properly documented add-back schedule can legitimately increase your normalized earnings by 20, 30, sometimes 50 percent above what your tax return shows. That translates directly into a higher valuation and more money […]
“Deal-ready” is one of those phrases that gets used constantly in business sales conversations — by brokers, by exit planners, by M&A advisors — without anyone taking the time to define what it actually means. So let’s define it. A deal-ready business is one where a qualified buyer can understand what they’re buying, verify that […]
Here’s something most sellers don’t realize until it’s too late: the majority of business deals that fall apart don’t die on the closing table. They don’t even make it to due diligence. They die in the first 30 days — sometimes the first 30 minutes — when a buyer or their advisor sees something in […]
Most business owners who say they want to sell aren’t actually ready to sell. That’s not a criticism — it’s just reality. The average business owner spends 10, 20, sometimes 30 years building their company and maybe six months thinking seriously about how to exit it. They arrive at your office with a number in […]