Many business owners and financial executives want to ensure they can rely on an independent 'trusted' financing advisor when it comes to their business finances. How does one pick such an advisor? Naturally in today's environment business owners don't have time to waste, and if they have financial or growth challenges they are looking for someone that can bring expertise and solutions to their business.
We are constantly told that business owners are looking for a firm they can trust, respect, and has, of course, credentials.
We believe this whole area of developing a trust between the advisor and the company is a two way street. It is incumbent on the business owner to make sure the goals and needs of the company are made very clear. Business owners or financial managers should not blur the issues to the point that each party does not understand the goals and the respective roles.
When a trusted financing advisor is chosen he or she needs to be given access to the reins and information on the business and its challenges.
Business owners need to ensure that the specialist firm they are dealing with has experience either with the challenges they are facing, or the particular industry the customer is in. Many business financing challenges are industry specific, so this is not the time to be training and advisor on your business! Most people realize though that many financing challenges are somewhat generic in nature, so although an industry expertise is often helpful, it is clearly not always 100% required.
The business owner and financing advisor need to be able to have effective dialogue and communication on what the operational and financing issues are. Many times there are what we call ' warning signs ', yet in other cases companies are already clearly in trouble.
A financing advisor needs to be given information and clarification on issues related to:
- Sales
- Profits
- Currenet lenders
- Working capital issues
- Asset issues
- Future goals of the company
Naturally the above list is hardly all inclusive, but it is a solid start to the dialogue. The business absolutely has to have a handle on what the intermediate term goals are. Management needs to have a strong sense that the business advisor can assist in the recovery, and the advisor must be given the tools that he or she needs.
Both the business owner and advisor should have frank discussions around the probabilities of success and the timelines associated with that success. What's realistic, what isn't.
Business owners and financial executives should clearly check the background and experience of the advisor. References are of course highly recommended. Professional affiliations are of course important, but not critical. References from lawyers, bankers, and accountants are often excellent sources of information. The business advisor should clearly be indicating they have the right attitude and credentials around the business owners financing needs. It is certainly not unrealistic to have solid discussions around timelines and action items responsibility.
Ultimately business is of course people, so chemistry is important, and the business owner should have a sense they could work with the financing advisor. However, at the end of the day you don't have to like people to get the job done ( it certainly helps though!). Credibility and experience are ultimately always at the top of the list.
All engagements should of course be documented properly re success, work fees, etc. A credible business financing advisor will of course be willing to sign any required non-disclosure document.
In summary, a trusted business financing advisor is a valuable ' out of the company ' asset to any firm. Business owners and financial mangers should choose such an advisor carefully, and pay important attention to the qualities and capabilities that advisor can bring to the table, and ultimately, the firms success.
Common Sense Tips on Buying a Business and Selling a Business- By Stan Prokop - 7 Park Avenue Financial
I am often asked by clients for assistance in validating the price they are going to pay to purchase a small / medium enterprise. Business people should of course rely on their trusted advisors for professional help in that area, but this article will hopefully give them insight and advice into their challenge.
We also encourage our clients to talk to either their own peers, or in some cases our clients with respect to others experience in this area. This may help alleviate some of the concern around those business people who are ' non - financial ' in background and somewhat overwhelmed by discussion of terms such as EBITDA, intangible assets, capitalization and discount rates, etc!
We would point out that as technically overwhelming as some of those issues might be, there is even a whole additional layer of complexity around longer term issues down the road. These would include:
- Owner and management compensation
- insurance planning
- estate planning
- exist strategy
With reference to our last point on ' exit strategy ' imagine the look on some purchasors faces when they have not even completed the deal and are encourage to talk about an ' exit strategy '!
At the heart of the matter around the final price paid for a business is the concept that both parties feel they have reached a fair deal. As we all know the buyers and sellers perception of the same deal might vary greatly. Ultimately all the technical jargon around buying a business comes down to a term such as 'reasonable market value'. As common sense as this may sound it also has its challenges since is it only a hypothetical value based on all the difference financial elements related to the purchase of a business.
The most commonly used valuation of a business is know as ' value of future earnings '.. Accountants and financial advisors often project earnings out as far as ten years and try and then place some value and normalcy around those future profits. Our on piece of advice in this area is simply that owners should not focus solely on future earnings potential, there are other factors to be taken into consideration.
Some of those other factors of course include the true value of the current business assets, such as equipment, real estate, fixtures and leaseholds, etc. We can only say that as critical as those assets are they must be supported by the company's ability to generate the cash flow to support those assets and grow the business. Buyers and sellers frequently disagree on the total purchase price, with all sorts of psychology kicking in around prices being set artificially high for negotiations purposes, the buyers focus on a low- ball offer, etc. We would also point out the buy/sell challenge is accentuated when it relates to a ' service' firm as opposed to a product firm.
Many experts agree that ultimately the valuation of the business was so far out of whack that this clouded any possible attempts to negotiate a fair price for buyer and seller.
In summary, buying or selling a small to medium enterprise has its challenges. If owners are aware of the key basics around the technical aspects of the matter they can successfully utilize third party assistance ( accountant, lawyer, trusted financial advisor ) to consummate a successful transaction. Buyers and sellers must focus on tangible issues as well as all the intangibles that come into play in order to assist in a proper, ( and a successful ) buy or sell.
What Do I Need to Know When I Am Buying a Business? - By Stan Prokop - 7 Park Avenue Financial
I often wonder if business owners who are looking at purchasing a business take the same sort of outlook as when they are buying something in the stock market.
Let's take some thoughts from the way Warrant Buffet looks at a company and determine if we could be using those same successful strategies.
Those strategies tend to be summed up in a very concise manner -> make sure you understand what you are buying, ensure the industry prospects are favorable, and if management is going to stay on in some capacity make sure they know what they are doing!
Many owners I meet look to buy into businesses, or franchises for that matter, in an industry they don't understand. We would say that if you can't positively feel good about knowing the real sales potential, how expenses occur, what is the cash flow cycle of the business then you should not by look to purchase that business. Naturally many business owners will often get a strong sense of missing a major opportunity - the business owners forgets that Buffett once said 'above average results... are often produced by doing ordinary things'.
Many business owners like to focus on buying a turn around business, a business that has been either abandoned or poorly managed by its previous owners. While there are clearly some great turn around stories out there, more often than not these transactions become large challenges and financial nightmares. More simply speaking: The business was cheap to buy for a reason!
In a perfect world, (and we realize it's not!) it is optimal to consider purchasing a business that has a solid product and reputation.
The people aspect of purchasing any business is also important, and great investors such as Buffet place a large emphasis on management. Obviously the business purchaser has the focus of either keeping management or replacing management. Naturally management that has a focus on the bottom line and on long term growth are to be very valued.
At a certain point it gets down to 'price'. Business acquirers should focus as much on return on equity as just net income. That is one the key areas in a Buffett type purchase decision. A huge mistake is to also focus on volume as opposed to profit margins. Most business acquisitions involve the buyer assuming or generating debt. The overall focus, it goes without saying is to minimize debt.
Getting back to our legendary investor, Buffett creates a formula for what he calls owner earnings - which formula is as follows:
Net profit + deprecation - Capital assets needed to be acquired
We would agree that this is a great way to look at profit potential in any business being acquired.
Buffett modeled his career on one book, a famous finance book entitled 'The Intelligent Investor ', by a fellow named Ben Graham. As dry and out of date this huge text might seem to today's business person, we could still all use a little ' intelligent investing' assistance when make a major decision to buy a business.
