Expanding Your Business

The term “growing the business” seems to be the term of choice for business people who discuss expansion. Unfortunately, in too many cases, this growing never goes beyond the seedling stage. Business people also talk about “thinking outside the box.” Again, that concept encompasses so much – what box? How far outside? – that it…

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How Many Businesses Are There?

We suspect that the answer to this question depends on who you ask! The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reports that they received some 24.8 million business tax returns for the year 1999. We can hear the joyful sounds emanating from new business brokers and those considering the profession. Wow, almost 25 million businesses! We can hear them…

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Selling Your Business? Expect the Unexpected!

According to the experts, a business owner should lay the groundwork for selling at about the same time as he or she first opens the door for business.  Great advice, but it rarely happens.  Most sales of businesses are event-driven; i.e., an event or circumstance such as partnership problems, divorce, health, or just plain burn-out…

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Points to Ponder for Sellers

So you’ve finally decided it’s time to sell your business. It’s natural to have many questions pertaining to the process of selling – but are you asking the right questions? Here are a few points to ponder for sellers: Who best understands my business? When interviewing intermediaries to represent the sale of your firm, it…

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The Term Sheet

Buyers, sellers, intermediaries and advisers often mention the use of a term sheet prior to the creation of an actual purchase and sale agreement. However, very rarely do you ever hear this document explained. It sounds good but what is it specifically? Very few books about the M&A process even mention term sheet. Russ Robb’s…

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