Category Archives: Exit Planning

The Only Number that Counts

The retirement of a generation of entrepreneurs (see www.theboomerbust.com) is an event unique in our history, or in anyone’s history for that matter. What we are about to experience is inevitable, and those who are unprepared are in for a … Continue Reading

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What is Your Company Worth? II

Last week we discussed how business owners frequently use hearsay or incomplete information to estimate the value of their companies. They give the number to their financial planner, or include it on a personal financial statement for their banker, neither of … Continue Reading

Posted in Building Value, Entrepreneurship, Exit Options, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning, Top Blog Posts | 1 Comment

What is Your Company Worth?

A business owner hires a financial planner to help him with his retirement options. They review the owner’s current assets, his house, stock portfolio and other investments. They go over his insurance coverage. Then the planner asks, “What about your company? How … Continue Reading

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Ready…Set…Exit! Part II

Last week we discussed the tsunami of Baby Boomer retirement, and how we will reach a peak of nearly 500 unsold businesses a day within the next 5 years. The statistics are immutable. The birthrates of the last century are … Continue Reading

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Ready…Set…Exit! Part I

For the last six years I’ve been writing and speaking around the country to business owners about the coming tsunami of retiring Baby Boomer business owners. My e-book “Beating the Boomer Bust” details the  statistics (For a free download, go here … Continue Reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Managing Employees, Marketing, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Return of “Do It Yourself”

For the last 40 years, America has been on a roll. Baby Boomers, raised in a competitive environment, have increased the average work week, made the two income household ubiquitous, and currently operate about 60% of the small businesses in … Continue Reading

Posted in Economic Trends, Exit Planning, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Can Franchising Survive The Baby Boomers?

As a consultant to business owners, this is a column I’ve hesitated to write for a long time. There are over 800,000 franchised businesses in the United States, and I’m not going out of my way to make that many owners mad … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Boomer Business Owners’ Retirement Accelerates

Pepperdine University, in cooperation with the International Business Brokers Association and the M&A Source, publishes a quarterly Market Pulse Survey on the sale of small businesses in the United States. The most recent report, covering the fourth quarter of 2012, … Continue Reading

Posted in Economic Trends, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Life After, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Could We Stamp Out Entrepreneurship in America?

In a recent Special Report on the Nordic Countries, The Economist notes that some Californian citizens pay taxes equivalent to those of Sweden. The Swedes,  however, at least receive an excellent educational system and free health care in return. The … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, Exit Planning, John's Opinions, Politics and Regulation | 3 Comments

Business Value: Do Your Numbers Add Up?

Most small business owners don’t understand how to value their companies. For some, misunderstanding the way that buyers look at the value of your business can be very costly in the long run. The fourth of our Rights and Obligations … Continue Reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Road Less Traveled

Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Perhaps Robert Frost’s famous poem isn’t a perfect expression of what I am … Continue Reading

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Choosing a Buyer for Your Business

You may be questioning this title. After talking in depth about the shortage of buyers over the next 10 years, the differences in values and work habits of Generation X, and the competition for ambitious people from better financed and … Continue Reading

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