Benefit From Good Business Records
By Peter C. King, CEO of VR Business Sales/Mergers & Acquisitions
At least once a month, you should be doing an analysis of your business, and making sure that your books and records are in working order. It’s not only good to see the progression of your business but to verify that both your accounts payable and receivable are in the black. If you are thinking about selling your business somewhere down the line, you should get everything in shape. Additionally, you should have dashboard reports that pinpoint exactly where your revenues are coming from (or not) along with industry analysis reports that show how your business stands up against others that are in the same line of business.
Specifically, you should be paying attention to profit and loss statements (P&Ls) when analyzing your business. You’ll be able to account for all the income that your business has earned as well as all incurred expenses.
There are two ways to cast a P&L:
1. For tax purposes, a P&L is slanted to show maximum expenses and minimum profit;
2. To help sell your business for top dollar, the P&L is re-casted to show the actual ongoing business expenses and maximum profit.
Remember, buyers, are looking for a business that’s making a profit. So when reconstructing the P&L statement, pull out the personal expenses, overstated inventory, non-deductable expenses, owner’s personal insurance, salary, promotion expenditures, travel and entertainment, depreciation on equipment, auto expenses, bad debt, donations, interest, and income tax. Once you remove these items from the “losses” category, the money gets added to the “profits” category. Now, you should be left with a truer net profit.
|
|
Buy or Pass: Making the Correct Decision
By JoAnn Lombardi, President ofVR Business Sales/Mergers & Acquisitions
Knowing When to Move on a Business as a Buyer
As a business opportunity arises, you as the buyer must determine the level of desirability. The assumption is that any business opportunity will be a creative and innovative one. Therefore, think about these points when you are examining a business opportunity as a buyer.
Due Diligence is Limitless
You can spend as much time as you want on due diligence. If you are looking to seriously buy a business, you want to look at every aspect of that business. However, keep in mind a few factors when doing due diligence because you won’t have all the time in the world before the seller moves to another qualified buyer:
• Will you know enough about the industry to gain a grasp on the business?
• Is there enough to research the business prior to closing?
• Will the seller be willing to allow you to contact former customers?
• How much money do you have available to spend on due diligence?
Assembling the Letter of Intent (LOI)
There are two schools of thought:
1.) Rush through the LOI to take the business off the market.
2.) Iron out the major items such as reps, warranties, and key employee compensation. Until the LOI is signed, the business is “in play” for another buyer to come in and negotiate a better deal for the seller. However, you do want to think things through in the event the business in question is not the opportunity you thought it was. Deals Get Done Face to Face. Some prefer to have attorneys involved. However, at the end of the day, the best way for the deal to be completed is for the two principals to meet face-to-face with a VR business intermediary.
|
|
Preparing For Sale Your Business
ByRay Melcher, Business Broker, VR Mergers & Acquisitions in Wyomissing, PA
|
|
Ever hear the saying, “I wish I had a nickel for every time such and such happened.”? I use that saying often and following are some of the comments from business owners that I hear that makes me say “If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard a business owner say…………”
- I want to sell my business, but I don’t know where to start.
- I want to buy a business, but I don’t know where to start.
- If I would have known that documenting all of my policies and procedures and customer information history would make my business worth more, I would done it years ago. It will be a huge job to do it now.
- I should have sold my business when sales were higher and profitability stronger.
- I didn’t realize that managing my finances to keep my income tax as low as possible by reporting lower than actual profitability would hurt the value and salability of my business.
- I have done no planning with my tax advisor or financial advisor about my financial needs for retirement.
- I have never had my business equipment appraised and we don’t do a physical inventory so I really have no idea what my inventory is worth.
You get the idea. There are thousands of very successfully owner–operated privately owned businesses with significant value embedded in the business, but that may not be optimally realized when the owner decides to sell the business to convert paper net worth to cash liquidity.
|
|
Automation Is Coming to Your Machine Shop. Are You Ready?
When you think of automation, you usually think of large manufacturing plants, like an automobile assembly plant, with hundreds of robotic arms installing doors and other parts and spot-welding thousands of connections. Indeed, the auto industry largely pioneered the use of automation in the context of early assembly lines, back when Henry Ford was building the Model T. And traditionally, automation has only been done by large manufacturers because it’s so expensive but becomes economically feasible when churning out lots of identical, finished products.
Now, however, automation is coming to the advanced machine shop. Modern machines already use a great deal of robotic automation – within the esoteric boundaries of the operating envelope of the machine, but there’s much room to go in terms of machine loading, materials handling, etc. But the same principle of automating high-volume work at an auto assembly plant has now come to low-volume, high-mix metalworking job shops, and contract manufacturers that make parts and assemblies for customers in multiple industries. Shop owners better are prepared to embrace it—for at least part of the manufacturing process—if they expect to stay in business.
Now, don’t panic. The cost of automation has come down to where it is within the means of even small-to-medium-sized shops. You don’t have to be General Motors to make it happen. Nor do you have to automate your entire shop. But there are aspects of your manufacturing process—mainly the repetitive, dull, and dirty jobs—that probably could be automated while leaving the customized and most complicated parts of your process in the hands of your skilled machinists.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Walgreens “is turning to robots to ease workloads at drugstores as it grapples with a nationwide shortage of pharmacists and pharmacist technicians.” Sound familiar? But it’s not just giant pharmacies like Walgreens that are trying to automate some of their procedures. “More drugstores, including smaller chains and independent pharmacies, are looking to automate and centralize drug fulfillment,” the article said. The same principle holds true in the metalworking industry.
|
|
E-Commerce Preferred Brand Snack Distribution for Sale in Northeast, PA
Started by a retired marketing executive who realized the need for quickly moving favorite brands of food products to locations where they are not normally available, this e-commerce company's average growth is 35+ percent per year. The founder realized that when name brand-seeking customers moved to a region or state where they could not find a particular snack, which they had enjoyed many years or just recently discovered, making it easily available online was the answer.
This entrepreneur also realized that there are many brands that are local favorites with limited distribution. Teaming up with the big names in distribution, this company now ships directly through their systems or directly from its own center. The right buyer can quickly expand this model by adding more hard-to-finds and aligning with vendors without a national footprint.
|
|
VR Office in Artesia/Los Angeles, CA Sold A Commercial and Residential Water Company in Hawaii
Water solutions company since 1994 based in Hawaii. The company had many active commercial and residential accounts. Multiple revenue streams, onsite point-of-use filtration systems leased, sold, and serviced, in stores filtered and specialty water sales, equipment and supply sales, accessories and product sales.
Headquarters based in Maui occupies a 10,000 SF warehouse to accommodate manufacturing, service, storage, and retail operations. The storefront is capable of selling 15,000 gallons of purified water on busy days. Many locals have come to rely on their consistent and safe purified water. The Oahu store was a dedicated retail operation with 6,000 gallons per day capacity, and both commercial and residential accounts were serviced as well. Both retail stores offer purified water, specialty PH and Flavored waters, and many accessories and equipment for walk-in customers.
All assets, equipment, inventories, systems, brands, URLs, furniture, fixtures, lifts, and vehicles were included in the sale. This was a well-staffed turn-key operation.
Congratulations to William Park for your successful closing.
|
|
Thinking of selling your business or looking for an established
|
Buyer Mandate for Technology-Based Companies
Our buyer seeks technology-based companies active in trade and manufacturing of industrial products and services in Europe and the US in well-defined product and market niches.
Ideal purchase price in the region of euro 10-50 million per acquisition. Revenue: between euro 10 million to euro 75 million per acquisition with strong management and own products (i.e. not contract manufacturing).
The key customer segments could include manufacturers and suppliers within telecom, automation, commercial vehicles, military, digital signage, and renewable energy, as well as electrical contractors and construction companies.
Only profitable companies (EBITDA margin above 10%) or able short term to reach that level; no turn-around or distressed situations.
- Lighting and emergency lighting, intrusion and fire alarms, measurement instruments, electrical panels and switchgear, UPS systems, and EMC components
- Tailored solutions based on electronic components and systems
- Equipment, consumable materials, and support services for electronics production and industrial automation
- Industrial safety equipment
- Magnetic components for power supply and signal applications
- Lifting and materials handling, personal workplace safety, and industrial filters
- Lightning and spotlighting in homes and public spaces as well as workplace lightning
- Products and solutions for vibration damping, machine shoes, and workplace mats
- Retail solutions including e.g. in-store communication, signage programs, digital signage, and product display
- Rack and service for the secure, in-store display of theft-prone goods
- Logistics and data processing in retail stores, healthcare, and industry
- Solutions for streamlining logistics in warehouses and the manufacturing industry
The buyer is founded and needs no source of financing.
|
|
VR is The Only Remaining Founding Firm of The International Business Brokers Association ("IBBA").
|
|
Have You Ever Considered Selling Businesses?
|
|
As a loyal subscriber of Today’s Business Owner electronic magazine, we invite you to click on this link follow us on LinkedIn.
Now you can be updated daily on business sales, valuation techniques, mergers and acquisitions, career opportunities with VR, and much more.
Be the first to find out about new businesses for sale, and what has just sold.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|