Do You Have What It Takes to Build a Valuable Business?
Running a successful business requires more than a good product and a willingness to work hard. Markets change, technology evolves, competitors emerge, and customer expectations shift. The business owners who adapt without losing sight of what makes their companies valuable are often better positioned for long-term success. A useful way to evaluate your business is to ask yourself a few...Read More
Does Your Business Have Pricing Power?
One of the clearest signs of a strong business is the ability to raise prices without losing a meaningful number of customers. That ability is often referred to as pricing power. It does not necessarily mean a company can charge whatever it wants. Rather, it means customers see enough value in the product, service, relationship, convenience, or overall experience that price is not the only...Read More
After the Closing: Helping Ensure a Successful Transition
Closing the deal is a major milestone, but for the buyer, it is often the beginning of a much bigger transition. The business may have a new owner, but the seller’s involvement does not necessarily end the day the documents are signed. In many transactions, a smooth handoff during the weeks or months that follow can have a meaningful impact on the business’s continued success. The Seller’s...Read More
Recognizing the Warning Signs in Your Business
A business rarely goes from healthy to distressed overnight. More often, trouble develops gradually through a series of warning signs that an owner may overlook while focused on the day-to-day demands of running the company. A lack of focus, weak management, inadequate financial controls, the loss of a key employee or major customer, outdated technology, operational or quality issues, legal...Read More
What Happens After You Accept an Offer on Your Business?
By Troy Frank, Owner — Indiana Equity Brokers Estimated read time: 7 min The short answer: After a buyer’s offer is accepted, due diligence on a small business usually runs 30 to 60 days, and the full stretch from signed letter of intent to closing typically takes 60 to 90 days. If SBA financing is involved, plan on 60 to 120 days. During that window the buyer verifies your numbers, the...Read More
What Helps a Business Sale Actually Reach the Closing Table?
By Troy Frank, Owner — Indiana Equity Brokers Estimated read time: 6 min The short answer: Roughly half of business sales that enter due diligence never make it to closing. The deals that do close share four traits: the buyer and seller align on all terms early — not just price — the seller’s financials hold up under scrutiny, both sides disclose problems before due diligence finds them,...Read More
The Business Was Worth More Three Years Ago
By Troy Frank, Owner, Indiana Equity Brokers Estimated read time: 6 min The short answer: The best time to sell a business is while it’s still growing, not after momentum fades. Owners who wait until a health scare or burnout forces the sale usually accept a lower price, because buyers discount stagnant, owner-dependent companies. A business that might earn 4 to 5 times EBITDA while...Read More
What Makes a Business Worth More?
By Troy Frank, Owner, Indiana Equity Brokers Estimated read time: 6 min The short answer: A business is worth more when a buyer can see steady profits, low risk, and a company that runs without the owner. The biggest business value drivers are recurring revenue, a diversified customer base, a real management team, clean financials, and consistent growth. Two businesses with the same earnings...Read MoreDeal Structure When Selling a Business
By Troy Frank, Owner, Indiana Equity Brokers Estimated read time: 6 min The short answer: Two offers at the same price can leave you with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ difference in real, after-tax cash. Deal structure decides what you keep, and it comes down to how much is cash at closing, how much is a seller note, and how much is rollover equity. Roughly 70 to 80 percent of small...Read More
