5 Reasons Why Now Might Be The Right Time To Sell

Are you trying to time the sale of your business so that you exit when both your business and the economy are peaking?

While your objective to build your company’s value is admirable, here are five reasons why you may want to sell sooner than you might think:

  1. You May Be Choking Your Business

When you start your business, you have nothing to lose, so you risk it all on your idea. But as you grow, you naturally become more conservative, because your business actually becomes worth something. For many of us, our company is our largest asset, so the idea of losing it on a new growth idea becomes less attractive. We become more conservative and hinder our company’s growth.

  1. Money Is Cheap

We’re coming out of a period of ultra-low interest rates. Financial buyers will likely borrow money to buy your business so—at the risk of over simplifying a lot of MBA math—the less it costs them to borrow, the more they will spend to buy your business.

  1. Timing Your Sale Is A Fool’s Errand

The costs of most financial assets are correlated, which is to say that the value of your private business, real estate and a Fortune 500 company’s stock all move in roughly the same direction. They all laid an egg in 2009 and now they are all booming. The problem is, you’ll have to do something with the money you make from the sale of your company, which means you will likely buy into a new asset class at the same frothy valuation as you are exiting at.

  1. Cybercrime

If you have moved your customer data into the cloud, it is only a matter of time before you become the target of cybercrime. Randy Ambrosie, the former CEO of 3Macs, a Montreal-based investment company that manages $6 billion for wealthy Canadian families decided to sell in part because he feared a cyber attack. Ambrosie and his partners realized they had been under-investing in technology for years, at a time when cybercrime was becoming more prevalent in the financial services space. Ambrosie decided to sell his firm to Raymond James because he realized the cost for staying ahead of hackers was becoming too much to bear.

  1. There Is No Corporate Ladder

In most occupations, the ambitious must climb the ladder. Aspiring CEOs must methodically move up, stacking one job on the next until they are ready for the top post. They have to put in the time, play the right politics and succeed at each new assignment to be considered for the next rung.

By choosing a career as an entrepreneur, you get to skip the ladder entirely. You can start a business, sell it, take a sabbatical and start another business and nobody will miss you on the ladder. Your second (or third) business is likely to be more successful than your first, so the sooner you sell your existing business, the sooner you get to take a break and then start working on your next.

It can be tempting to want to time the sale of your business so that the economy and your company are peeking, but in reality, it may be better to sell sooner rather than later.

Bottom line: be prepared to exit on your terms.  Meanwhile, keep working on building value in your business.  For a quick view into where you stand, take this self-assessment. CLICK HERE

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The Forum’s Inaugural Breakfast Event – Join us on Oct 19

Announces Inaugural Breakfast Event at….

Bryant University ~ Bello Center
Thursday, October 19, 2017 – 7:30-9:30 AM

Register Online

“Building Value in Your Business While Running It”

Company owners, executives and advisors are generally focused on business operations and performance. Most tend to defer thinking about how the components of their business’ operations and performance influence the overall value of the organization. It’s the enterprise value that is of prime importance to lenders, vendors, potential partners, suitors and some customers – all of whom play a pivotal role in a company’s future.

Our Topic, “Building Value in Your Business While Running It” …brings together experienced practitioners and business people who have had hands-on experience in building business value. They will share their knowledge and insights into how an understanding of a company’s value helps drive the kind of decisions that build real value for the long term.

Chris Mellen will be our Conversation Moderator….

Chris is Managing Director with Valuation Research Corporation in Norwood, MA.  Chris has over 28 years of business valuation experience involving the valuation of over 3,000 businesses and intangible asset valuations.  He has started, ran for 15 years, and sold his own business; earned 6 professional certifications; served on several valuation committees; published several articles; led over 100 seminars; provided expert testimony in court; and co-authored a valuation text book – Valuation for M&A:  Building Value in Private Companies. https://www.valuationresearch.com/professional/chris-mellen

 

Panelists include:

David Hirsch a Corporate Attorney with Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP  in Providence.  David focuses his practice in the areas of corporate and business law, including commercial and public finance and mergers and acquisitions. He represents companies in general corporate matters and assists with a broad range of business and financing transactions. David also has experience advising financial institutions regarding regulatory compliance. https://www.hinckleyallen.com/people/david-s-hirsch/

 

Rob Kerr is Managing Director of CBIZ Tofias in Providence.  Rob is a CPA with more than 15 years of experience in tax planning, consulting and compliance services for public companies, privately-held corporations, partnerships and individuals. Rob specializes in the private equity and venture capital industry where he provides assistance with domestic and international tax planning and compliance projects. And extensive experience working with Internal Revenue Code Section 382, assisting clients with ownership changes and associated impact against the certain tax attributes. https://www.cbiz.com/about-us/employees/employee/eid/3220/name/robert_kerr

Mike Tamasi is the President & CEO of AccuRounds in Avon, MA.  A second- generation owner since 1985, Mike is responsible for overall strategy and organizational alignment guided by “The Path to Perfection” – providing opportunity for every member of the AccuRounds team.  Mike is co-chair of the Massachusetts Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and Chairman of Business Leaders United. https://www.accurounds.com/about-us-executive-team.htm

 

Register Online

Thank-you to our sponsors for their support of the Southern New England business community

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2017 The Business Value Forum, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

The Business Value Forum

11 South Angell Street – #319

Providence, RI 02906

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Announcing the Launch… The Business Value Forum

Announcing the Launch… 

From the decades of business experience of its founding Board and from their reputation for offering valued educational and informational programs to Southern New England businesses comes The Business Value Forum, Inc.[Working with Bryant UniversityForum Board members have previously led the Breakfast at Bryant series that included such programs as “We Are Market Basket”, “Would You Buy Your Business”,  “A Case Study in Performance Excellence – The Ocean House”….]

The Forum is a non-profit, non-membership organization whose mission is to provide business owners, leaders, and advisors with educational programs and information to help develop, grow and sustain an organization’s value.

The Forum, formed by its founding board in collaboration with Bryant University offers valued programs focused on contemporary business challenges encountered at each stage of the business life-cycle… from inception to ownership transition. The Forum regularly convenes a mixed group of business leaders, advisors and educators in an environment that encourages information sharing and idea generation.

Please watch for The Forum’s coming organization and breakfast program announcements.

Advance Information – The Inaugural Program

TopicBuilding Value in Your Business While Running It
Time and Location:  7:30-9:30 AM on Thursday, October 19th
at Bryant University

Please hold that date – more detail and registration information to follow.

The Founding Board:

Itamar Chalif – Rockland Trust
Frank Mancieri – GT Growth & Transition Strategies
Raquel Cordeiro – Bryant University
Kevin McNally – Interactive Palette
Stanley Davis – Standish Executive Search, LLC
Mike Mellor – DiSanto Priest & Co
Norman Gauthier – Heritage Hill Partners Inc.
Rob Piacitelli – ThirdSide Capital
Larry Girouard -The Business Avionix Company, LLC
Mario Zangari – Zangari Cohn Cuthbertson Duhl & Grello P.C.

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