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JoAnn Lombardi, President & Chairman
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| Using a VR Business Intermediary When Selling Your Business
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Apart from buying or selling your house,selling your business stands as one of the biggest financial steps that you will take. The reasons that a business owner sells are wide and varied – retirement, health, relocation, etc. Regardless of the reason, you will need to recruit a VR business intermediary in preparing, marketing and managing the selling process.
A VR business intermediary is uniquely trained, prepared to offer you as the business owner advice as well as to position the op
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| Advantages of Buying an Existing Business
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There are many advantages to buying an existing business.
Already Established Customer Base
When you buy a business, you also buy that business’ customers. The more customers, the more that you will pay for the business.However, these existing customers will giveyour business an immediate cash flow and opportunity to improve on existing business relationships.
Current Inventory
You will usually receive whatever inventory is currently on the shelves or in the warehouse when you buy a bu
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| Buying a Business Has Many Advantages
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Many entrepreneurs believe that they need to start a business from scratch. But this does not have to be the case. Look at one of the all-time business owners: Howard Schultz. He did not start Starbucks. Instead, he initially worked for the business before leaving. After a time, he returned and bought the business.
Most studies show that start-ups fail within the first few years of their existence, where as buying a business that’s already in existence is much more beneficial with le
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| Buying a Business Instead of Starting One
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So you’ve made the decision to own a business. Hundreds of people work their way through the same thought process, weighing the costs and benefits of self-employment versus career employment. Yes, there are risks to taking the route of owning your own business; but when youbuy an existing business as opposed to starting one from scratch, you have the best overall chances financially and emotionally of succeeding.
The advantages tobuying a business are less risky where you already have
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| Doing a Business Valuation as a First Time Buyer
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Every entrepreneur that’sbuying a business for the first time is faced with the challenge of determining what the fair price for a given business is. Whether other reasonable parties will disagree,business valuation is equally both an art and science.
Commonly, small businesses are valued at a multiple of cash flow that ranges from one(x) to four (x) times.
There are two important questions that have to be asked:
What is meant by cash flow?
What multiples apply to part
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| Choosing the Right Business for You as a Buyer
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When you are looking to buy a business, it is important to find the right business first before worrying about the right price. Never base your search simply on finding a good deal because you will find yourself ultimately in a place that you don’t want to be.
The price must be considered secondary to your personal preferences relating to how you want to spend your time and energy. Remember that you will be spending between 40 and 80 hours a week at the business you choose to buy.
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| Having Your Business Family Operated
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When you are looking to buy or sell a business, a common area of dispute comes from involving family members. In some cases, some family members will contribute a great deal of work without being paid a single penny at the same time that others may be doing little or no work while receiving large sums of money or services.The first situation calls for reductions in SDC, where as the second calls for an increase, both of which entail somewhat arbitrary assessments.
Having Mutual Trust for the
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| When to Begin Due Diligence as a Business Buyer
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The intangible that connects the right business to the right price is due diligence. This refers to the period of time during that the buyer is free to examine the seller and their business. Due diligence also refers to the efforts made by the seller toevaluate the buyer’s financial statement and resume – the latter is particularly important if the seller will be carrying a note from the buyer or if the seller is to remain on a long-term lease assigned to the buyer.
Due diligen
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| Asking Yourself the 7 Questions When Looking to Buy a Business
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If you are looking to become a successful business owner, you need to be able to ask yourself if you have what it takes. First of all, if you are looking tobuy a business just to be able to pay your bills and have no debt; then don’t bother moving ahead. When you make the decision to buy a business, your goal should be to become the leader in your industry, someone that is an expert at what they do in their field.
Being a business ownershould mean that you realize that there is an opp
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| How to Approach Selling Your Business
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When you are a selling your business, you must define exactly what is being sold to determine how to price and structure the sale, understand how thebuyer will analyze the business sale opportunity and plan a win-win tone for discussion with that buyer. The overall value to the seller in a sale is the combination of the price and factors.
Contributing to the Overall Value
The form of the consideration received at the closing of the business sale (stock, cash, combination, etc.), tax trea
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| Implementing an Identity for Your Business
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All businesses have an identity, regardless of whether they control or effectively manage it. You can increase the efficiency of your business by concentrating on developing a desirable identity to project to customers, use as a tool to prove internal direction and orientate strategic development.
Types of Business Identities
Remember that a business identity program embraces and manages a valuable asset. There are three identity types that your business can be classified.
Monolithi
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| Identity’s Omnipotent Scope in Business
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Every business has a unique identity that can be used as a valuable asset. Regardless of the size, all businesses currently face challenges to their identity from a myriad of areas. There are three problem areas regarding identity management.
Ever-Similar Products and Services
This has led to customers purchasing from businesses on an emotional basis – a projected sense of corporate personality and rapport can boost business. But how do you differentiate one product in an industry fro
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| Keeping Your Business Going Following a Natural Disaster
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Especially, nowadays, it seems we can’t go long in our country without having some sort of natural disaster striking somewhere.It doesn'tif you don’t have earthquakes like California, hurricanes like Florida and the Gulf Coast, tornadoes like the Deep South and Midwest, blizzards like the Northeast and Rockies; you need to have a plan in place so you know what decisions you as a business owner will have to make when such an event happens without little or no warning. You want to be a
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| How to Approach the Selling Price of Your Business
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The topic of what the business price should be is two-pronged. On one end, sellers should never a.) Be rushed on giving a price, b.) Consider buyers to be within reason for asking about it at any point in the discussion and c.) Be realistic if they expect to complete transactions. On the other end, buyers want to know what sellers arepractical when it comes down to what they want for the business.
Different Approaches to Price
Pricing can be addressed as an overall value and then assigned
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| Managing Disclosure When Selling Your Business
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If you are looking to sell your business, you have to know that at some point in the sales process that someone inside or outside your organization will ask questions about your intentions – specifically, if the business is indeed for sale. The disclosure of appropriate information must be made to prospective buyers if serious discussions regarding the sale of business are to take place. Also remember that some discontent inside the business may be generated due to “unusual activity&
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| Importance of the Letter of Intent to Sell Your Business
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Having to drafta written understanding of what both the seller and buyer think they have preliminarily agreed to is important as the point of referencefor due diligence and the preparation of definitive agreements in the sale of a business.
Now most buyers are not interested in letters of intent because they may trigger a requirement for public news releases.Sellers especially don’t want to announce a transaction that could be derailed.
However, it is important to use a letter of i
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| Maximizing a New Strategic Alliance
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In the 1990s, more than 60,000 strategic alliances formed. Out of these, half were joint ventures while the other were non-equity arrangements such as technology licensing agreements, joint marketing arrangements and research or development projects. The majority were international, meaning that the world’s largest multinational business such as IBM, General Motors and Philips used alliances.
Most management teams emphasize developing and perfecting the ability to create and manage s
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| Subjective versus Objective Problem Solving in Business
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Unless you hate sweets, most people think chocolate is delicious. If you have a chocolate bar sitting on the kitchen counter, while you’re in the living room; it’s going to attract your attention, where ultimately you’re going to get up and grab it. It hasn’t moved, it can’t play mind games with you or put up banners saying, “Come here and have a bite!” Yet, chocolate can lure anyone’s attention between the ages of 6 to 86.
Say you want to an
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| Always Keep Good Books
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Have you ever wondered about the consequences when business owners don’t report all of the revenue that they’re creating? Business intermediaries know that buyers will only pay for what can be proven, so one ramification is the eventual selling price of the business will be lower due to the decreasing number of documented profits.
The question is how much lower will the price be as a result? A more important question from this arises: how much can a second set of books save
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| Creating Your Own Luck in Business
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On top of having a strong marketing plan, great location, great product, established customer base as well as other factors; luck also has a hand in determining the success of your business that you’ve bought or built. There is such a thing as creating your own luck that can allow you to take your business to the next level; and set you up to sell at maximum value. However, there are some parameters to keep in mind when trying to accomplish this.
Set Sharp and Clear Priorities
When de
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| The Strategy of Actively Waiting
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Any business gains a vital advantage when they seize a golden opportunity that can elevate them to not only the next level but the top of their industry - which will only help when the time comes to sell to a buyer. However, there is one small catch. Business owners neither can predict nor control the precise form, magnitude or timing of such things; and they can rarely open the windows that give rise to golden opportunities. Even a company as large as IBM couldn’t have affected the speed
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| Seller Beware – Due Diligence Critical When Evaluating the Buyer for Your Business
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Normally when the buying or selling of a business takes place, the buyer only performs due diligence. However, smart sellers know that it’s a two-way street. Let’s be honest, for both parties, it’s important to truly understand each other, to make sure that the other has a good head on their shoulders and everyone is on the same page. Most importantly, the seller doesn’t want to get burned. Nothing could be worse than when you put your heart and soul into growing a busine
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| Using Subjective over Objective Problem Solving in Business
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The fact is safe to say that most people think chocolate is delicious – not counting those that dislike sweets completely. Imagine for a moment that you have a lovely bar of chocolate that’slying on the kitchen counter of your house as you sit in the living room. It can’t move, it can’t play mind tricks with you nor can it put up a banner that says, “Eat Me!” And yet chocolate can lure the attention of anyone ages 6 to 86.
Now, suppose you want to analyze
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| Creating the Right Exit Strategy for Reselling Your Business
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People that own a business own more than just an establishment with four walls; they own a dream. For several owners, their business is an aspiration that just recently came true when they bought it. For others that have seen their businesses grow, they are pursuits that have been enjoyed and valued for years if not decades.
However, dreams inevitably end; and owners have the option of either continuing to develop their businesses or passingthem on to someone who hasn’t yet experienc
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| Implement a Strategic Plan to Help Make Your Business a Success
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As we move further into the 21st Century, business owners have had to deal with an ever-changing economic climate that brought a barrage of new challenges with increasing sales. As a result, they have had to focus more intensively on strategic planning.
This is the aspect of management that allows you to develop a strategy that addresses all probable contingencies. More importantly, this determines the best course of action to reach your goals, overcome obstacles and maintain a competitive
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| Knowing How to Correctly Valuate a Business
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Determining the value and set price is one of the most important decisions that you’ll make when
going forward with buying or selling a business. VR can help you with
the many considerations that you have to make when doing a valuation.
If you’re looking to buy
or sell a business, VR will provide you with solid and reliable assistance. Every
VR business intermediary is highly trained in bringing both parties together to
coordinate the negotiations and activities of the tr
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| When to Apply Restrictions and Prohibitions in the Business Deal
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When negotiating
the sale of a business, it’s not uncommon for both the buyer and seller to miss
putting much thought into the post-close conditions and terms. Obviously, both
parties want to protect themselves against potential harm that either could
inflict. However, this topic can be overlooked when so much time is spent on
the actual transaction.
The fact
is the buyer is going to have concerns about the seller possibly taking away
the goodwill that they’ve created
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| Following the Correct Path to Selling a Business
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The time
always comes when you decide to sell your business. You may have not thought
about it when you were looking to buy, but this situation happens all the time:
the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity becomes a financial and psychological
albatross that you seek to have someone else take over.
The Right Time to Put the Business
on the Market
Frequently,
an owner allows blind devotion and optimism, inaction or a combination of the
three to keep from offering their business
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| Keeping Good Business Records
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At least once a year, you should be doing an analysis of
your business to make sure that your books and records are in working
order. It’s not only good to see the progression of your company but to verify
that both your accounts payables and receivables are in the black if you
do decide later about selling.
Specifically, you should be paying attention to profit and
loss statements (P&Ls) when analyzing your business. Make sure that you are able to
account for all the in
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| Showing Due Diligence with Intellectual Property
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With ever
increasing frequency, intellectual property has become a bigger part of M&A
transactions. Intangible assets such as patents and proprietary industrial
designs have grown quite significant. In some cases, they’ve become more
important than physical assets when determining a value of a business.
Most
likely, if you are in negotiations to sell your business to a potential buyer,
the deal that’s being put on the table includes clauses that will give them
acc
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| The Importance of Due Diligence When Buying or Selling a Business
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There is no such
thing as a short cut when approaching due diligence. As time consuming and
cumbersome as the process may be, it is not to be taken lightly. The
examination has to be comprehensive and thorough for both the buyer and the
seller.
Particularly for the
buyer, a less than thorough review could result in costly surprises upon
acquiring the business. A misstep in the seller’s research could end in losing
the deal or another kind of adjustment. Regardless of the side
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| A Business Plan for Growth in Sluggish Times
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“I don’t want to put any money
into my business until the economy improves.” How many times have you
heard a small business owner say something like that? It kind of gives me a
chill every time I hear it. Imagine deciding not to spend any more money on
transportation until traffic improves.
Many business owners who bought
their own businesses did it because they liked the idea of setting their own
hours, being their own bosses, making a good income, and growing their
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| VR Opens New Portugal Offices
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We have continued our international expansion of VR with the opening of the first two offices in Portugal. Now that we have commenced operations in Santa Maria as well as the capital in Lisbon, we can penetrate this country's market in addition with the locations that we have opened in Panama, Mexico, Chille and Spain.
As we've proceeded forward into 2009, VR has
maintained their focus on bringing their expertise to potential clients who are
looking to buy or sell a privately-held business.
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| VR Opens Its Premier Office in Panama City
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In late January of this year,VR opened a new office in Panama City, officially giving us a presence in Central America for the first time in our 30-year history. Owners Carlos Dias, Alfonso and Ruben Bustamante established the franchise in a new 6-story building that they built with theVR logo – located minutes away from the downtown area.
There is incredible opportunity in Panama City with its ever-expanding metropolitan area and economy that’s growing at an 8% rate – extr
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| VR Advantage - Buying with VR
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VR's International Network of Professional Business Intermediary's offers over thirty years of successful experience to the buyer of a small or mid-size business around the world. Our tradition of bringing qualified buyers and committed sellers together is the cornerstone of the VR organization. VR boasts as being the only network of business intermediary's that requires a fulltime commitment on behalf of its franchisees and associates. VR has never allowed part-time offices and part-time associ
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