View all current San Francisco, California blog posts, discussions and podcast sessions by ProIntermediaries and ProAdvisors on BizBen.com that are associated with selling and buying San Francisco, California small businesses. Thanks.
Using an earn out can benefit both buyer & seller of a business purchase. A recent question by a buyer in the BizBen ProBuy Program about the best way to structure a business earn out prompted me to ask a panel of BizBen Resources how they would deal with the buyers question on earn out structures.
When selling and buying a business, it is almost always necessary to allocate the purchase price to various categories of assets for tax and accounting purposes, whether this is a transfer of all the assets of the business or an actual stock sale of the business entity. Broker Tim Cunha explains.
To understand the pros and cons of diverting funds from your retirement funds towards the purchase of a business, it is first necessary to brush up on some investment basics. Before approaching the issue of using retirement funds to buy a business, let's take a quick look at stocks and bonds.
If inventory is an asset of the small business, why is it treated differently from other assets in setting the business value and conducting the transaction? Tim Cunha, San Francisco Bay Area Business Broker explores this topic about how the inventory amount affects a business valuation.
When selling your small business, you'll be bombarded with questions - from the brilliant to the ridiculous. You need to be prepared. Here are some of the key questions you can expect to be asked. Tim Cunha (SF Bay Area Business Broker) reviews many of these possible questions from potential buyers.
The idea to buy a business with seller financing is clearly understood by most people whose career move is to purchase their own company. But not everyone knows how to structure a deal with the seller carrying back part of the price. Be prepared for three situations when negotiating your purchase.
Trying to purchase a business with no money down is usually a waste of time if you want a good business. But leveraging into a business with a relatively small cash down payment can often be accomplished using some of these suggested strategies in this article on buying a business with limited cash.
Recognizing that 70% of the California small and mid-market-sized businesses offered to buyers are never sold, and that some of the obvious reasons - over-pricing, inadequate records, insufficient lease - have been discussed in detail, it might be useful to point out lesser known problems.
Don't confuse a business opportunity with a going business for sale. In the broadest sense, an existing business being offered on the market is sometimes called a business opportunity. But for a buyer's purposes, seeking to invest in a business to own and operate, there are important differences.
Would you like to know what your business is worth? What's more, what it could be worth with a small amount of effort and investment? Business brokers have a variety of methods to determine value. Tim Cunha, JD a SF Bay Area Business Broker discusses his answers to this question about valuation.
Looking to buy a small business? There is good news regarding business purchase financing. More financial institutions are coming back into the market with business purchase financing. After years of being selective many lenders are more open to financing deals they would not have in the past years.
If you are planning to offer your small business for sale, you ought to learn about your chances of succeeding. The probability of making a sale depends largely on which of seven seller types describes you. Use this self-test to find out what kind of seller you are and determine if you'll succeed.
SBA large loan expert and advisor Peter Siegel, MBA (BizBen.com & SBALoanAdvisors.com Founder) shares his views and experience for getting the right SBA loan for larger deals, getting deals professionally prequalified & analyzed, and getting that loan through underwriting with fewer complications!
You've found your dream business. You've called/emailed/texted the broker or owner; you've tried to reach out again via phone/email/text. However you're not getting a response and it's getting frustrating. How to get brokers/owners to return your calls/emails/texts - what key strategies to utilize.
50% of all California small business for sale transactions fail to complete. Why do businesses for sale fall out of escrow? Joel Miller (a senior care business specialist) discusses his 5 top reason why businesses fall out escrow along with other brokers, advisors on this BizBen Discussion.
Negotiating the terms of a business deal is a delicate process, where one wrong move can cost you the business that you wanted to purchase. Peter Siegel, MBA (BizBen ProBuy Program) discusses the ins and outs of negotiations, and how to work well with the seller to get a deal done.
A buyer who I have been consulting with on the BizBen ProBuy Program is looking to buy a liquor store (and possible other "cash" oriented businesses). They asked me how they should verify cash being generated by the business and how to go about conducting due diligence etc.
Should small business owners/sellers or brokers/agents give potential buyers direct access to past company tax returns and financials (profit & loss statements) either before or pre the due diligence process? Multiple ProIntermediaries and ProAdvisors discuss this topic on this BizBen Discussion.
Can business buyers actually get full representation from a broker? With 70% of all California brokers not cooperating with each other it may be a good idea to have someone on your side representing your interests. Is buyer representation a reality? ProIntermediaries discuss this topic on BizBen.
A huge part of any exit strategy is properly planning for that moment in time when employees find out the business is for sale or, preferably, has been sold. Your workers have been kept in the dark for as long as possible. Some won't be a bit surprised. Others may be devastated.
Should I Sell My Business During The Holidays Or Wait Till After The New Year? Business Broker Joe Ranieri and others chime in on this BizBen Discussion about selling a business during the Holiday Season.
When purchasing a small to mid-szied business, there are a multitude of things to evaluate. One area that is often overlooked is the business's culture. Peter Siegel, MBA with BizBen discusses with potential buyers the importance of understanding how the business runs on a day-to-day basis.
In our BizBen.com June 2021 Monthly Report the top ProIntermediaries and ProAdvisors on BizBen offer their thoughts about the current status of the business for sale marketplace with trends and predictions for Business Buyers, Owner/Sellers, Business Brokers, Agents, Advisors in the near future.
Was discussing this question/topic with a potential restaurant buyer the other day about the differences between a Letter Of Intent and a Business Purchase Agreement. I sell restaurants and buyers typically get ask about which document they should submit when making an offer on a business.
The owner selling the business doesn't have recent financial information or documentation but insists revenues are increasing. Should buyers believe the seller? What should buyers do in this situation? ProIntermediaries on BizBen answer the question of verifying seller / owner's financial claims.
Many factors determine whether inventory is included in the asking price. Among them are: the standard for that particular industry or type of business, the quality and age of the inventory, whether the inventory levels are cyclical, whether the inventory is the normal amount, etc. BizBen Discussion
We're hearing more and more about "crowd funding" through sites like gofundme and kickstarter as a possible way to raise the cash needed to buy a small business. This method of collecting funds has proven successful in other kinds of situations. Could this strategy work when buying a small business?
Many business buyers complain to me about business intermediaries not getting any financial information about the business they may be interested in purchasing. There are multiple reasons for this but I agree that financial information should be readily be available to interested buyers upfront.
