Starting Vs. Growing a Business
Most company founders are good at the first stages of entrepreneurship. But in the phases that follow, they may only be average. Just because you have a knack for starting companies, doesn’t necessarily mean that those skills translate well into growing one. There are...
4 Reasons Why It’s Better to Own a Big Chunk of a Small Company
Is it better to own a big chunk of a small business or a minority stake in a big company? It’s one of the fundamental questions all owners must wrestle with. Owning a relatively small slice of a big pie has worked out well for both Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who...
EBITDA Calculator
The EBITDA calculator will introduce you to a simplified concept of calculating Sellers Discretionary Income or Adjusted EBITDA used in calculating business value. Populate all fields to the best of your ability to calculate the EBITDA for your business. Want to...
How To Get a Big Company Multiple For Your Business
Big public companies trade at a significant premium over small businesses in the same industry because investors perceive big, sophisticated companies as a safer bet than small, owner-dependent companies. Let’s take a look at the professional services industry....
Which Is Better, a Financial Buyer or a Strategic Buyer?
If you decide to sell your business to an outside acquirer, you’re going to have to decide between a financial and a strategic buyer—understanding the different motivations of these two buyers can be the key to getting a good price for your business. A financial buyer...
Caution: Don’t Poke The Giant
On June 1, 2011, both Floyd’s Coffee Shops in Portland, Oregon were busier than usual. The regulars were elbowed out of the way by new customers visiting the store for the first time to redeem their coupon and get $10 worth of coffee for $3. This tempting offer was...
Why Startups Stall
Have you ever wondered why startup companies stop growing? Sometimes they run outof potential customers to sell to or their product starts losing market share to acompetitor, but there is often a more fundamental reason: the founder(s) lose thestomach for it. When you...
Did Microsoft Overpay for Linked In?
Microsoft’s recent $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn provides an illustrative example of a strategic acquisition – the type of sale that usually garners the most gain for the acquired company’s shareholders. You may be wondering what a billion-dollar acquisition...
5 Lessons From Home Depot’s Acquisition of Blinds.com
Jay Steinfeld built Blinds.com into a $100 million e-tailer before selling out to Home Depot. Here are five things that made it a spectacular exit. Win The Make vs. Buy Battle Companies like Home Depot have a “make or buy” decision when they see a competitor winning...