The time you spend evaluating your company’s weaknesses is, as it turns out, one of the single best investments you can hope to make.  No one should understand your company better than you.  But to fully understand your company, it is essential that you invest the time to understand your company’s various strengths and weakness.

Your company, from the beginning, has been an investment.  It’s an investment in your time, your mental energy and, of course, your financial resources.  The time and effort you expend to locate, understand and then fix your businesses’ weaknesses is time very well spent.  Addressing and remedying your businesses’ weakness will not only pay dividends in the here and now, but will also help get your business ready to sell.  Let’s turn our attention to some of the key areas of weakness that can cause some buyers to look elsewhere.

An Industry in Decline

A declining market can serve as a major red flag for buyers.  You as a businessowner must be savvy enough to understand market situations and respond accordingly.

If you spot a troubling trend and realize that a major source of your revenue is declining or will decline, then you must branch out in new directions, offer new goods and/or services, find new customers and also find new ways to get your existing customers to buy more.  Taking these steps shows that your business is a vibrant and dynamic one.

You Face an Aging Workforce

It has been well publicized that young people, for example, are not entering the trades.  Many trades such as tool and die makers will be left with a substantial shortage of skilled workers as a result.  No doubt, technology will replace some, but not all, of these workers.

This is an example of how an aging workforce can impact the health and stability of a business.  If your business potentially relies upon an aging workforce then it is essential that you find a way to address this issue long before you put your business up for sale.

You Only Have, or Primarily Rely Upon a Single Product

Being a “one-trick pony” is never a good thing, even if that trick is exceptionally good.  Diversification increases the chances of stability and can even help you find new customers.  Additional goods and services allow you to weather unexpected storms such as a supply chain disruption while at the same time provide access to new customers and thus new revenue.

The Factor of Customer Concentration

Many buyers are concerned about customer concentration.  If your business has only one or two customers, then your business is highly vulnerable and almost every prospective buyer will realize this fact.  While it is an investment to find new customers, it is well worth the time and money.

A business broker can help you evaluate your company and, in the process, address its weaknesses.  Remedying your businesses weakness before you put your business up for sale and you will be rewarded.

Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.

Sepy/BigStock.com

The time you spend evaluating your company’s weaknesses is, as it turns out, one of the single best investments you can hope to make.  No one should understand your company better than you.  But to fully understand your company, it is essential that you invest the time to understand your company’s various strengths and weakness.

Your company, from the beginning, has been an investment.  It’s an investment in your time, your mental energy and, of course, your financial resources.  The time and effort you expend to locate, understand and then fix your businesses’ weaknesses is time very well spent.  Addressing and remedying your businesses’ weakness will not only pay dividends in the here and now, but will also help get your business ready to sell.  Let’s turn our attention to some of the key areas of weakness that can cause some buyers to look elsewhere.

An Industry in Decline

A declining market can serve as a major red flag for buyers.  You as a businessowner must be savvy enough to understand market situations and respond accordingly.

If you spot a troubling trend and realize that a major source of your revenue is declining or will decline, then you must branch out in new directions, offer new goods and/or services, find new customers and also find new ways to get your existing customers to buy more.  Taking these steps shows that your business is a vibrant and dynamic one.

You Face an Aging Workforce

It has been well publicized that young people, for example, are not entering the trades.  Many trades such as tool and die makers will be left with a substantial shortage of skilled workers as a result.  No doubt, technology will replace some, but not all, of these workers.

This is an example of how an aging workforce can impact the health and stability of a business.  If your business potentially relies upon an aging workforce then it is essential that you find a way to address this issue long before you put your business up for sale.

You Only Have, or Primarily Rely Upon a Single Product

Being a “one-trick pony” is never a good thing, even if that trick is exceptionally good.  Diversification increases the chances of stability and can even help you find new customers.  Additional goods and services allow you to weather unexpected storms such as a supply chain disruption while at the same time provide access to new customers and thus new revenue.

The Factor of Customer Concentration

Many buyers are concerned about customer concentration.  If your business has only one or two customers, then your business is highly vulnerable and almost every prospective buyer will realize this fact.  While it is an investment to find new customers, it is well worth the time and money.

A business broker can help you evaluate your company and, in the process, address its weaknesses.  Remedying your businesses weakness before you put your business up for sale and you will be rewarded.

Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.

Sepy/BigStock.com

Buying a business can be an exciting prospect.  For many prospective business owners, owning a business is the fulfillment of a decades long dream.  With all of that excitement comes considerable emotion.  For this reason, it is essential to step back and carefully evaluate several key factors to help you decide whether or not you are making the best financial and life decision for you.  In this article, we’ll examine five key factors you should consider before buying a business.

What is Being Sold?

If you hate the idea of owning a clothing store, then why buy one?  The bottom line is that you have to have a degree of enthusiasm about what you are buying otherwise you’ll experience burnout and lose interest in the business.

How Good is the Business Plan?

Before getting too excited about owning a business, you’ll want to take a look at the business plan.  You’ll want to know the current business owner’s goals and how they plan on going about achieving those goals.  If they’ve not been able to formulate a coherent business plan then that could be a red flag.

You need to see how a business can be grown in the future, and that means you need a business plan.  Additionally, a business plan will outline how products and services are marketed and how the business compares to other companies.

How is Overall Performance?

A key question to have answered before signing on the bottom line is “How well is a business performing overall?”  Wrapped up in this question are factors such as how many hours the owner has to work, whether or not a manager is used to oversee operations, how many employees are paid overtime, whether or not employees are living up to their potential and other factors.  Answering these questions will give you a better idea of what to expect if you buy the business.

What Do the Financials Look Like?

Clearly, it is essential to understand the financials of the business.  You’ll want to see everything from profit and loss statements and balance sheets to income tax returns and more.  In short, don’t leave any rock unturned.  Importantly, if you are not provided accurate financial information don’t hesitate, run the other way!

What are the Demographics?

Understanding your prospective customers is essential to understanding your business.  If the current owner doesn’t understand the business, that is a key problem.  It should be clear who the customers are, why they keep coming back and how you can potentially add and retain current customers in the future.  After all, at the end of the day, the customer is what your business is all about.

Don’t rush into buying a business.  Instead, carefully evaluate every aspect of the business and how owning the business will impact both your life and your long-term financial prospects.

Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.

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