Doing deals can be expensive. A lot of entrepreneurs want to save money by not hiring an advisor or they don’t know when they should make the investment on an advisor. It’s important to understand the roles of the broker and other advisors, especially legal counsel, and to know when to bring in a professional. Here are some milestones in a deal, and how to know when to hire a business advisor.
A Broker’s Opinion of Value, or BOV, can help an owner determine what the business would sell for on the open market. This, in relation to an owner’s “pain” level, are often enough to make a decision if they are ready to sell.
The valuation multiple formulas available to compute the value of a business for sale are numerous and can be confusing to many small business owners. In fact, many professionals can be similarly confused by the various multiple formulas currently in use.
When working through a business sale, an inordinate number of resources on both sides of the table are dedicated to drafting and negotiating the Stock Purchase or Asset Purchase Agreement. This is true especially in the last one-to-two weeks before the closing. In fact, I’ve had clients remark that during their entire tenure as an entrepreneur, they never spent as much time speaking to their advisors as they did during the last week of their business ownership journey!
Business Brokers and M&A Intermediaries may use or reference the ‘Lehman Scale’ when discussing their compensation method with a business owner contemplating the sale of their business. The Lehman Scale was originally developed in the late 1960’s and used by the Lehman Brothers when raising business capital for their clients.
Many small business owners borrow money to start and grow their business. And is often the case those same business owners find themselves hitting credit limits established by banks and other lenders causing enormous growing pains for the business. Simply stated, running out of business capital when you’re growing a business is difficult at best.
![How to Calculate Debt Service Coverage Ratio [Tool]](https://exitpromise.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/iStock-502733644.jpg)
Debt Service Coverage Ratio compliance often is required or necessitated by covenants in a bank loan agreement. A bank loan covenant regarding the debt service coverage ratio will specify the amount of income a business and/or its guarantor must generate relative to the debt principal and interest payments on an annual basis to remain in compliance with the covenant. The business owner, or his or her CFO or Controller, should monitor this ratio carefully on a monthly basis so the covenant is not unintentionally broken.
One of the many questions asked by entrepreneurs as they plan for the sale of their business is related to the Adjusted EBITDA definition.
Most entrepreneurs build a business with a view to an eventual profitable exit. Most probably have lifestyle aspirations in mind that imply a certain amount of money to be realized from a sale. Whether they are looking at an exit now – or a decade from now – they need more than the subjective opinion of friends and acquaintances as to how much their business is worth.
EBIT is an acronym for Earnings Before Interest and Taxes. This is a term Bankers often use as a measure of a business’s earnings from operations. The EBIT reveals operating profitability without non-recurring or unusual income or expenses.
EBITDA is an acronym for Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization. EBITDA is often used as a measure of a business’s cash flow. Also it is used frequently in many business valuation formulas, depending on the business’s specific industry.
If you own a business, you want to know that your entrepreneurial efforts will result in making money. However, many entrepreneurs struggle to recognize where they are making money and where they are not!
The various types of valuation reports produced by a business appraiser can be confusing to an entrepreneur, especially when the appraiser belongs to more than one valuation association. Under most appraisal standards, a business appraiser can produce two types of reports: a detailed appraisal report or a calculation report.
