Chances are you’ve answered “What do you do?” with “I am…”
“I am a doctor.”
“I am a lawyer.”
“I am a chef.”
Especially here in the USA, we get a lot of our identity from our profession. Read more
What is “Closing”? A Dealmaking Timeline from Two Weeks Out to Signing on the Dotted Line
If you’re selling your business and the deal’s “Close” is just two weeks away, you’ve gotten through the bulk of it.
But, there are still two weeks left of the dealmaking process and you’re not sure what “closing the deal” actually means. Keep reading to get some practical guidance for items not necessarily addressed in the legal documents, such as “Where should I be, physically, on the day of closing?” Read more
Deals and Deal Makers: The “What” and “Who” of Mergers and Acquisitions
A few years ago, my friends were chatting excitedly about a new shop that had opened called, “Insomnia Cookie.” My friend, Evan, felt a bit out of the loop but nobody was clueing him in. Read more
Beyond the Numbers: Social Impact Investment Banking
What is social impact investment banking?
It sounds a little trendy—maybe even a bit made up.
But, it happens every day.
The Ultimate Guide to Buyers of Privately-Held Businesses
Yogi Berra would probably tell you that you can’t sell your business if nobody will buy it.
But, many people walk into the dealmaking process without considering business buyers at all. Read more
The Ultimate Guide to Due Diligence
Due diligence is a term most of us have heard somewhere at some point. But what does it actually mean and how does it play out in specific contexts? At The DVS Group due diligence is an essential part of our dealmaking.
The Ultimate Guide to Business Valuation
Valuation is calculated. Price is negotiated.
That’s one of the most important things to remember about the process of business valuation.
Business valuation is a topic that goes deep and wide. There are a lot of questions and a lot to learn.
We did the digging for you and created the second in our series of “Ultimate Guides”.
(The first in the series: The Ultimate Guide to EBITDA)
After engaging with the information below, we hope you come out on the other side with a good understanding of why valuation is calculated and price is negotiated.
Let’s go!
The Ultimate Guide to EBITDA
We talk about EBITDA often in our office. The financial measure is important when valuing a business. Business owners, buyers of businesses and even financial advisors can be at a loss for what EBITDA truly means because it is mainly used in the sale of a business- an event they’ll likely experience once.
There is a heap of questions out there regarding EBITDA. And there is an equal amount of answers. We weeded through the resources out there and found the best answers to your EBITDA questions.
Why You Should Stop “Preparing Your Business For Sale”
Let’s start with a tour through some Google searches.
Note the tips given and steps advised in both of the search results. Read more
Three Things You Need to Know About Seller Financing
A business is for sale. Buyer and seller meet. It’s a match made in heaven. They’re ready to get a deal done. How is the buyer going to find the millions of dollars required to buy the business? Likely partially from you, the seller.
How to Overcome Your Four Biggest Fears After Getting an Offer on Your Business
Every business owner is battered by letters or phone calls asking about the sale of his or her business. You learn to ignore them or simply not put too much stock in them. But then, there’s a letter or phone call that’s different – you can tell there’s a real buyer on the other side. Read more
How to Start Strong in Your Business Exit Process
Honesty.
Selling your business requires honesty.
You must be prepared to answer the questions that buyers have in an honest, almost clinical way.
Starting strong in your business exit process involves being honest about your motivation, your numbers, your employees, your customers and your competitors.
It’s a bit like going to the doctor to get your moles checked – annoying, frustrating, a bit anxiety inducing but you come out on the other side aware of what needs to be removed and what looks a little funky but is actually just fine.
Read more
5 Mistakes People Make When Valuing a Business
As merger & acquisition professionals, we know that much of our job is education. The work we do day-in and day-out is a little bit complicated, a little bit obscure, and a whole lot different than a business owner’s day-in and day-out work. We value and enjoy our role as educators but sometimes we get frustrated when our clients get tunnel vision and choose to focus on any problem but the one that matters. We find ourselves having the wrong conversation over and over.
70-90% of Strategic Acquisitions Fail – Here’s How Corporate Buyers Kill Deals
Strategic acquisitions have a historical failure rate of 70-90%. That’s a pretty dismal stat.
So, what are you doing wrong? And, more importantly, how do you properly lead your team in an acquisition process when the cards are stacked against you?
Below are five of the most common mistakes we see corporate buyers make when going through the acquisition process. These mistakes can be costly – especially, if the deal dies after you chased it for months. We’ve included reminders of basic, yet vitally important, acquisition principles that will allow you to steer clear of failure and action items to help your team gain momentum in the right direction.
My Top Tips for Business Owners Considering Selling [Guest Post]
Thanks to Kirk Kaiser for contributing this post to The DVS Group blog. He is an owner of Barrier Technologies. He founded the company in 2008 with Jaye Sieland. Barrier Technologies is a national containment contractor that specializes in preventing the spread of fire, smoke, sound, water, and infection in buildings. Here are his top tips for business owners considering selling.