Posts Categorized: Valuation

Work “On, Not In” Your Business

For the better part of 40 years, Michael Gerber has been encouraging business owners to work “on, not in” their business. In this interview of Built to Sell Radio, you’ll hear some of Gerber’s sage advice and get a summary of his new book, Beyond The E-Myth, including: – Why every company should be built as a… Read more »

Inside the Mind of a Private Equity Investor

Frank Cottle led an investor group to buy Hi-Mark Software for 10 times EBITDA.  Cottle then sold a chunk for 15 times and ultimately sold his last tranche of equity for more than 16 times EBITDA to Lufthansa.  In this interview, you’ll get deep inside the mind of a private equity buyer and learn: – three… Read more »

How One Pivot Doubled The Value of This Business

James Garvey and his partner grew Objective Loyalty from a standing start in 2005 to $2.5 million in EBITDA before they decided to sell their email marketing platform.  Garvey’s investment banker spent six months shopping the deal without a single offer. Then Garvey decided to switch tactics and approach the strategic partners who already knew… Read more »

About Multiples of Revenue

People talk about multiples of revenue. Sure, one can take any price and divide it by the annual revenue of a business and obtain a revenue multiple. A $1 million sale price divided by $750,000 in annual revenue equals a 1.33 revenue multiple. Right? Nothing inherently right or wrong in talking about multiples of revenue…. Read more »

Valuing the Business: Some Difficult Issues

Business valuations are almost always difficult and often complex. A valuation is also frequently subject to the judgment of the person conducting it. In addition, the person conducting the valuation must assume that the information furnished to him or her is accurate. Here are some issues that must be considered when arriving at a value… Read more »

Two Similar Companies ~ Big Difference in Value

Consider two different companies in virtually the same industry. Both companies have an EBITDA of $6 million – but, they have very different valuations. One is valued at five times EBITDA, pricing it at $30 million. The other is valued at seven times EBITDA, making it $42 million. What’s…

Three Basic Factors of Earnings

Two businesses for sale could report the same numeric value for “earnings” and yet be far from equal. Three factors of earnings are listed below that tell more about the earnings than just the number. 1. Quality of earnings Quality of earnings measures whether the earnings are padded with a lot of “add backs” or one-time… Read more »

Three Basic Factors of Earnings

Two businesses for sale could report the same numeric value for “earnings” and yet be far from equal. Three factors of earnings are listed below that tell more about the earnings than just the number. 1. Quality of earnings Quality of earnings measures whether the earnings are padded with a lot of “add backs” or… Read more »

What is the Value of Your Business? It All Depends.

The initial response to the question in the title really should be: “Why do you want to know the value of your business?” This response is not intended to be flippant, but is a question that really needs to be answered. Does an owner need to know for estate purposes? Does the bank want to… Read more »