Sell Your Company in 120 Days!

See Huxley's blog based on Leigh Buchanan’s article in the March 2012 issue of INC. magazine, The Motivation Matrix.  Ms. Buchanan provides a peek into a fascinating study by two Harvard Business School faculty members who surveyed 2,000 founders and approximately the same number of non entrepreneurs about their motivations to identify the ones driving founders to start businesses, identify what they want out of life and how these change over time.  Read more….

DISCLAIMER:  Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated.  This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as advice on any particular matter nor is it intended to be a solicitation regarding any securities transaction and or investment relationship.  For those desiring additional information please visit our website www.mamarketplace.com.

Charles Green, small business financing expert and author,  posted this very timely article by Barbara Taylor in the NY Times about the devastating economic impact to wealth creation and jobs the failure of small businesses to transfer to others in the coming decade will create.

Boomers are tuning 65 at the rate of 14,000/day (and will continue to do so for the next 13+ years) and approximately 6 million own businesses that generate $6 trillion in revenues.  This represents more than one half of the U.S.Gross National Product and U.S. Job Base.  The author points out that unless business owners address the problem of creating a sustainable business that will continue to grow after their departure, approximately 3/4 of these transactions will fail and the impact will be the loss of $3 trillion of wealth and millions of jobs. Read more....

DISCLAIMER:  Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated.  This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as advice on any particular matter nor is it intended to be a solicitation regarding any securities transaction and or investment relationship.  For those desiring additional information please visit our website www.mamarketplace.com.

With the uncertainty of the economic outlook, lenders to smaller middle market buyers/sponsors have yet to relax lending standards (coverage ratios) and be more aggressive in the amount of debt they are willing to lend in a transaction.  Thus, sellers are being asked to bridge the gap by way of much larger “earn-outs” over a longer period.

John Warrillow’s Blog addresses the dilemma many sellers are facing and provides some sound advice for them.  Read more….

DISCLAIMER:  Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated.  This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as advice on any particular matter nor is it intended to be a solicitation regarding any securities transaction and or investment relationship.  For those desiring additional information please visit our website www.mamarketplace.com.

The just published 2012 State Business Tax Climate Index by the Tax Foundation provides the reader an easy to understand index to see where their state ranks.  It is a comprehensive study of a very complex topic that examines all of the tools in each state’s Tax toolbox.  The 10 BEST for 2012 are …. Read more.

DISCLAIMER:  Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated.  This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as advice on any particular matter nor is it intended to be a solicitation regarding any securities transaction and or investment relationship.  For those desiring additional information please visit our website www.mamarketplace.com.

DISCLAIMER:  Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated.  This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as advice on any particular matter nor is it intended to be a solicitation regarding any securities transaction and or investment relationship.  For those desiring additional information please visit our website www.mamarketplace.com.

What Owners should expect when selling their businesses.  John Warrillow interviews Brad Bottoset of the Liberty Group about this process most owners are not prepared for and provides some helpful insights.  What do these two very different events possibly have in common?  Read more…

DISCLAIMER:  Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated.  This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as advice on any particular matter nor is it intended to be a solicitation regarding any securities transaction and or investment relationship.  For those desiring additional information please visit our website www.mamarketplace.com.

When is the RIGHT time to SELL?  What is the author’s definition of an early exit?  John Warrillow introduces us to successful entrepreneur and private equity investor, Basil Peters, who shares his rich experience and knowledge obtained over decades of creating and investing in over 100 companies. He states: “Having watched about 100 exits reasonably closely, I am convinced that in the very large majority of situations, entrepreneurs wait too long to start working on their exit.” 

When asked by owners why shouldn’t they wait for better times to sell, he states….read more.

Would you like to turn a significant amount of your closely held stock into CASH without giving up operational control and still have meaningful equity position remaining?  Does this sound too good to be TRUE?  Read more to find out why this is NOT the case…

Great article published in Smart Business (August 27, 2007) by Joel J. Guth of Citigroup/Smith Barney Family Office.  Guth summarizes the benefits of the equity recap, how it works and explores who are the best companies for this structure, types of owners that can benefit most and dangers to be aware of.  While this was written prior to the Great Recession, its content is MORE relevant NOW that ever before.   

Ernst & Young’s recently released report by their Transaction Advisory Group says strong economic “fundamentals” will bode well for an active M&A market in 2012.  "Despite the slowdown in transactions over the past few years, fundamentals have risen to their strongest point since the financial crisis began," says Rich Jeanneret, Americas Vice-Chair, Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young.  Read more…..

Posted by Huxley Nixon

John Warrillow, a successful entrepreneur and author, relates the story of Phil, an owner who was forced to re-invent his company or go out of business.  GRU-Group, a creator of indoor signage to help employees and visitors navigate easily, won most of its work through competitive bids by responding to RFP’s from hospitals and large commercial contractors.   To avoid selling their product solely on PRICE, Phil analyzed the entire design, creation and installation process and documented these in SEVEN steps and branded his unique methods and created ……..read more