Intellectual property has become a hot topic. Make no
mistake that patents, trademarks and copyrights can become a valuable asset in
the portfolio of your small business, and should be managed prudently.
It’s always an ongoing and daunting question for a business
owner to face when the time comes to sell – “What do I have to sell?” Believe
it or not, the main asset that you have to market is goodwill aside from the
phone number, address and equipment. Yet defining goodwill can be difficult to identify and value.
Assessing Goodwill through
Your Portfolio
How do you measure goodwill? How difficult would it be for
another business to gain the goodwill that your business has built in the
marketplace from scratch? How fast could that buyer develop their own goodwill,
especially after the vacuum that your departure will cause?
Yes, there are accountants that have shrewd ways of
creating the numbers in support of appraising your goodwill. Still, all the
quick amassing of numbers will leave you feeling unsure and uncomfortable. Most
of all, your prospective buyers will not be persuaded.
A great way of providing hard, cold facts to support your
appraisal is the intellectual property portfolio of your business. You can
strengthen your case to a buyer that your goodwill is worth a set amount with a
United States Patent and Trademark (USPTO) registration.
If you are in the manufacturing industry, a prospective
buyer may feel more at ease if you display some patents that you have on your
products as well as any proprietary methods and processes that you use in order
to run your business. They may feel at ease that they are given some leverage
to assert in the marketplace with patent protection.
Using an Attorney to
Measure the Value
Keep in mind that as much as a portfolio of intellectual
property may raise a lot of buyers’ attention, it doesn’t mean that it will be
easy to appraise and value – most patents never gain much worth if any at all.
If you are looking to buy a business with such an array of patents, trademarks
and copyrights, hire an attorney that specializes in that field to take at what
lies beneath the surface. They will be able to tell you the real potency and
value.