What are your options?

• You Can Sell Your Company
• Strategic Sale to a Competitor—may pay a premium.
• Final Sale based on cash generating potential
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) sold impart to employees.
• IPO…for a multitude of reasons but primarily to provide a liquid market for company stock.

How to value your company?

• Market Comparables
Seeking Knowledge Will Give You Power
What are you interested in? We all have a passion for something. So, what is your passion?Are you actively seeking information about your passion? Knowledge, providing it is correct knowledge, will increase your power.In this century there is an increasing demand for experts in so many fields. Everything is becoming more and more specialized.Let me give you an example. At the turn of the 19th Century, all you needed to do to be an Accountant was to be good with numbers and unde
Business owners often times get caught up in phenomenal early success and, as a result, fail to equip their organization with business strategies to accommodate the 3 stages of entrepreneurial growth: (1) Startup; (2) Growth; (3) Exit.

START UP

Aside from the obvious… have adequate resources and good management, entrepreneurs from the very beginning should establish a business development plan. The foundation for your business. At this early stage of growth, the strategy should be somewhat informal, a vision, if you will. You can’t allow yourself to get stuck on a plan this early.

As the company evolves, you’re looking for a pattern of decisions to develop to justify your strategic planning. You must learn to adjust to the feedback. BE FLEXIBLE IN YOUR PLANNING. Your company is taking shape.

THE GROWTH PHASE

As the company grows, you can now see and feel “the business” and structure a more formalized business plan.

Business strategy, however, can never be fixed. Your customer needs will change, your competitors both existing and new will introduce new products and services…meaning your going to have to continually rethink your strategy to compete in changing environments. There will always be external changes in the market, competition, technology, and economical and political changes.

Managing the Growth

• You have to hire and continually train good people. Train them to acquire future skills.
• Establish organizational policies and controls to continually monitor cash positions.
• Accounts Receivable
• Inventory Systems
• Accounts Payable Policy
• Monitoring Tools to Track Financial Performance
• Financing—it’s all about cash. For current and future growth.

You should always be looking to improve your cash flow. Try and avoid borrowing. You can factor receivables, maintain a stringent collection policy, negotiate better payment terms with suppliers, discount to customers for early payment. Maybe even increase margins if warranted.

SO YOU’VE CREATED THE VALUE—HOW DO YOU EXIT?

What most entrepreneurs don’t understand is that you need to develop your exit strategy early on in the growth stage. Understand the important value issues essential to the success of your entrepreneurial journey.

The return on invested capital must be greater than an investor’s opportunity cost of funds i.e. operating profit margins and use of capital invested. Is there an opportunity for a new set of owners to create more value than you? Is your business scalable…does it have upside potential? An excellent way to create value.

What are your options?

• You Can Sell Your Company
• Strategic Sale to a Competitor—may pay a premium.
• Final Sale based on cash generating potential
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) sold impart to employees.
• IPO…for a multitude of reasons but primarily to provide a liquid market for company stock.

How to value your company?

• Market Comparables
<
The Sound of Business - Part III
How to Give Good Sonic Personality©We live in an age of metrics. Traditional and new media advertising agencies often substitute metrics for understanding. Mathematical models create the appearance of scientific analysis, when in fact they are often manipulated to support a preselected agenda. We all know data can be massaged to conform to almost any conclusion. Besides, most small owner-managed companies can't afford the expense of these agency-driven number crunching solutions.
re looking for a pattern of decisions to develop to justify your strategic planning. You must learn to adjust to the feedback. BE FLEXIBLE IN YOUR PLANNING. Your company is taking shape.

THE GROWTH PHASE

As the company grows, you can now see and feel “the business” and structure a more formalized business plan.

Business strategy, however, can never be fixed. Your customer needs will change, your competitors both existing and new will introduce new products and services…meaning your going to have to continually rethink your strategy to compete in changing environments. There will always be external changes in the market, competition, technology, and economical and political changes.

Managing the Growth

• You have to hire and continually train good people. Train them to acquire future skills.
• Establish organizational policies and controls to continually monitor cash positions.
• Accounts Receivable
• Inventory Systems
• Accounts Payable Policy
• Monitoring Tools to Track Financial Performance
• Financing—it’s all about cash. For current and future growth.

You should always be looking to improve your cash flow. Try and avoid borrowing. You can factor receivables, maintain a stringent collection policy, negotiate better payment terms with suppliers, discount to customers for early payment. Maybe even increase margins if warranted.

SO YOU’VE CREATED THE VALUE—HOW DO YOU EXIT?

What most entrepreneurs don’t understand is that you need to develop your exit strategy early on in the growth stage. Understand the important value issues essential to the success of your entrepreneurial journey.

The return on invested capital must be greater than an investor’s opportunity cost of funds i.e. operating profit margins and use of capital invested. Is there an opportunity for a new set of owners to create more value than you? Is your business scalable…does it have upside potential? An excellent way to create value.

What are your options?

• You Can Sell Your Company
• Strategic Sale to a Competitor—may pay a premium.
• Final Sale based on cash generating potential
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) sold impart to employees.
• IPO…for a multitude of reasons but primarily to provide a liquid market for company stock.

How to value your company?

• Market Comparables
Fitness Franchise
If you are looking for a franchise opportunity that will offer you a good earning potential, you may want to consider purchasing a fitness franchise. The current health obsessed climate makes a fitness franchise a good way to create a money-making business while helping people look and feel their best. There are a number of fitness franchise opportunities out there, and finding the right one can be a satisfying venture for your entrepreneurial spirit.One type of fitness franchise is to ope
the market, competition, technology, and economical and political changes.

Managing the Growth

• You have to hire and continually train good people. Train them to acquire future skills.
• Establish organizational policies and controls to continually monitor cash positions.
• Accounts Receivable
• Inventory Systems
• Accounts Payable Policy
• Monitoring Tools to Track Financial Performance
• Financing—it’s all about cash. For current and future growth.

You should always be looking to improve your cash flow. Try and avoid borrowing. You can factor receivables, maintain a stringent collection policy, negotiate better payment terms with suppliers, discount to customers for early payment. Maybe even increase margins if warranted.

SO YOU’VE CREATED THE VALUE—HOW DO YOU EXIT?

What most entrepreneurs don’t understand is that you need to develop your exit strategy early on in the growth stage. Understand the important value issues essential to the success of your entrepreneurial journey.

The return on invested capital must be greater than an investor’s opportunity cost of funds i.e. operating profit margins and use of capital invested. Is there an opportunity for a new set of owners to create more value than you? Is your business scalable…does it have upside potential? An excellent way to create value.

What are your options?

• You Can Sell Your Company
• Strategic Sale to a Competitor—may pay a premium.
• Final Sale based on cash generating potential
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) sold impart to employees.
• IPO…for a multitude of reasons but primarily to provide a liquid market for company stock.

How to value your company?

• Market Comparables
Seven Steps to Prosperity: Starting Your Own Computer Services Business
Self employment has increased over 12.2 million people according to a study on the Small Business Administration website. Would you like to join them and start your own small business?You can, it’s really a simple process.1. The first step is the hardest. Convincing your inner critic that you can succeed on your own, without a steady paycheck. This inner critic needs to be tamed and shown its error. You do this by educating yourself. Study everything you can find on your chosen path.<
avoid borrowing. You can factor receivables, maintain a stringent collection policy, negotiate better payment terms with suppliers, discount to customers for early payment. Maybe even increase margins if warranted.

SO YOU’VE CREATED THE VALUE—HOW DO YOU EXIT?

What most entrepreneurs don’t understand is that you need to develop your exit strategy early on in the growth stage. Understand the important value issues essential to the success of your entrepreneurial journey.

The return on invested capital must be greater than an investor’s opportunity cost of funds i.e. operating profit margins and use of capital invested. Is there an opportunity for a new set of owners to create more value than you? Is your business scalable…does it have upside potential? An excellent way to create value.

What are your options?

• You Can Sell Your Company
• Strategic Sale to a Competitor—may pay a premium.
• Final Sale based on cash generating potential
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) sold impart to employees.
• IPO…for a multitude of reasons but primarily to provide a liquid market for company stock.

How to value your company?

• Market Comparables
How to Advertise with Flyers
When you first start out on your business venture, money is usually tight but you still need to advertise. One of the most affordable, yet very effective, ways to begin your advertising campaign is with flyers. Flyers are simply full page ads that are distributed directly to your potential customers. There are several ways in which they can be distributed.You can either make the flyers yourself or have them made professionally, which might not be in the budget. ;-) There are several
nvested. Is there an opportunity for a new set of owners to create more value than you? Is your business scalable…does it have upside potential? An excellent way to create value.

What are your options?

• You Can Sell Your Company
• Strategic Sale to a Competitor—may pay a premium.
• Final Sale based on cash generating potential
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) sold impart to employees.
• IPO…for a multitude of reasons but primarily to provide a liquid market for company stock.

How to value your company?

• Market Comparables
• Free Cash Flow Valuation

Terms of the Sale

• Take cash as opposed to cash and stock.

Investors are always concerned about how to exit. Entrepreneurs should also make exit an early consideration. Don’t wait for something to go wrong to structure your exit.

When it’s all said and done. Invest carefully and know what you want out of life and go get it.

by Bill Bradley bbradley@YourFranchiseConsultant.com

Bill Bradley is the founder of Your Franchise Consultant. The fastest growing Franchise& Business Opportunity Directory on the web and Free Franchise Consulting to “Discover the Perfect Franchise For You.” www.YourFranchiseConsultant.com