Quality of Earnings – Reports and Providers Avoid Costly Mistakes in Business Acquisitions Searchers/buyers are overpaying or getting incomplete Quality of Earnings reports. Misunderstandings, about the reports and the service providers, are costly for Quality of Earnings and your financial security. TOPICS Realistic Quality of Earnings (?) Providers of Reports Who Wants/Needs QofE? Issues Inadequately […]
Category Archives: Buying a Business
M&A Due Diligence: DIY Training – Staging – Scopes – Timing – Outsourcing There are many people pitching unnecessary, incomplete, defective, poorly timed, and/or overpriced services to uninformed searchers. You don’t need to outsource everything or to unnecessarily waste tens of thousands of dollars or suffer excessive weeks waiting for due diligence service providers to […]
Let’s begin with “How much good luck is valuing business goodwill?” It depends upon who is influencing you. There’s too much chatter among people who are wrong or don’t know enough about valuation. Or dealmaking. Or forecasting. Especially when it comes to goodwill’s helpful or adverse effects. Here are some warnings, facts, tips, […]
Business buyers can fall victim to various tricks and schemes when dealing with business sellers. Here are some common tactics used by unscrupulous sellers to deceive potential buyers, plus some ways business buyers counteract tricky sellers. (Some of these topics may seem repetitive; look for what differs.) Experienced dealmaker, Nic Cooper, who is looking […]
Here’s the link to the recording of my webinar, https://youtu.be/CrRVYFkxnfA Be sure to see the show notes, for the link to the supporting PDF. Some of the comments from viewers: I first downloaded and read your PDF, and then I watched the video. Seeing the checklist before watching your webinar made me more aware […]
Taming Problematic Employees & Employers? (Behaviors & Expectations) The resources on this webpage support my series on YouTube: “Why Employees Are The Biggest Risk For Business Owners, Sellers, Buyers.” Don’t misunderstand. Employees are the biggest risk. And, it does not have to be your risk. If you want to buy a business, you can avoid […]
Searcher Evaluation and Marketing Plan to Find Worthwhile Business Acquisitions What’s your competitive advantage to avoid or beat your buyer competition, and to quickly, safely, and profitably uncover the best businesses to buy? 2-Minute Video Reveals What The Savviest Searchers Do How well are you “selling” yourself to owners/sellers of companies? And besting your buyer […]
Inattention is a good way to a faceplant. Retention is becoming increasingly difficult. You’ve seen the headlines. About financing, employees, supply chains, landlords, customers, competitors, profits and losses. Don’t get caught with a don’t-wanter being sold by business sellers. Let’s privately talk about why and how: Sellers provide evidence to prospective acquirers. Business brokers […]
Coming 2023 What’s Possible? Examples of Creativity Searcher Stories―Trials, Tribulations, Triumph Searching Affects Creativity Avoiding Snags & Pitfalls Pre-LOI Diligence Formal Due Diligence Valuing & Pricing Raising Money & Financing Negotiating with Everyone Closing/Completing the Deal Transitioning Ownership Tips for Advisors and Clients New, a different kind of how-to book by Ted Leverette. Hard-hitting […]
This graphic (from an early edition of the syllabus I give to people attending my Zoom Business Buyer Trainings) hasn’t changed in decades, other than the numbers have gotten bigger. And so has the risk, for business buyers who don’t know how to properly adjust and forecast financial statements and/or cope with the wishful thinking […]
Let’s Demystify Pre-LOI Due Diligence Defective pre-LOI due diligence enables dumb deals. It’s why so many searchers can’t make a deal, or they buy the wrong businesses, or they buy the right businesses the wrong ways. It’s also why hopeful owners lose their opportunity to sell, or sell on terms that excessively favor buyers. See […]
The Miserable M’s – For Buyers and Sellers of SMBs (Antidotes Prescribed) You may not want to do it, but you can consider these M’s now, or you can potentially have to cope with them later. The link to my LinkedIn article. The Miserable M’s In alphabetical order, for no apparent reason. Misallocations […]
Honey, I don’t know how to say this. I think I’m going to lose my investment in the firm I bought, and we may be liable for a substantial part of the business’ debt. I muttered those words to my soon-to-be wife. Yep—I bought a company the wrong way. It was privately-held and an 8-figure […]
Listen to searchers, dealmakers and legal counsel discuss a few of the 52 tactics shown below. No matter where you begin, no matter the order in which you evaluate, you’ll need to control numerous dealmaking variables. It’s like Whac-A-Mole. You think you’ve handled one or more and then later one or more pop up […]
Imagine what it’s like to be the owner of a mature, profitable company who receives an endless stream of inquiries from strangers purporting to be business buyers. Merely saying you’re qualified to buy won’t cut it with most owners. Most owners (especially if they’re not represented by a business broker) will ignore you unless you […]
You could spend several days trying to figure out the kind of information you need, and then spend more time looking for resources . . . or you can use this report as your launching pad into the kinds of resources commonly being used by advisors, business owners and the buyers and sellers of small […]
67 Accounting Risks to Detect During Due Diligence for Buyers and Sellers of Small / Midsize Businesses You’ll love hating this exposé . . . Avoiding Accounting Hell. It can help you anticipate risks during due diligence. And then solve post-completion problems. For decades, I’ve been keeping a log of the pitfalls […]
Scroll down to see what people are saying about our presentation. (You’ll glean how-to tips from the reviews.) Because of the controversial nature of the CIMs and our evaluation of them, you are invited to show us your perspective: Email your comments and suggestions to Ted Leverette Sometimes it’s a living nightmare for searchers […]
We’ve helped buyers of SMBs save: $135467000 Click to request a private Zoom chat with Ted J. Leverette, The Original Business Buyer Advocate ®. You’ll hear how our clients bought businesses (priced below $10 million) for less than the asking price. $600,000 was the last price reduction for a mature, profitable company having sustainable competitive […]
Article-Who Needs a Business Buyer Advocate? Ted J. Leverette is The Original Business Buyer Advocate ®. (He is not a business broker; does not represent sellers.) “Business Buyer Advocate” is his trademark, registered with The United States Patent and Trademark Office. Leverette enables buyers of profitable small and midsize businesses in the USA, Canada, […]
Get a Free Reality Check How well are you “selling” yourself to owners/sellers of companies? Or to potential lenders or investors? This 2-Minute Video Reveals What The Savviest Searchers Do Fix what’s broken. Add what’s missing. “60 minutes of pure gold! Ted’s feedback for the Searcher and Search Evaluation caused me to rethink the way […]
Buying a business? It’s all about search. And being best. And first. And beating buyer competition. This 2-Minute Video Reveals What The Savviest Searchers Do Fix what’s broken. Add what’s missing. Ted Leverette does not believe the how-to books and seminars pitching buy-a-business for $1 or no money down. It’s not that those get-rich-easy-with-no-risk […]
You’re in control. Or they are. (Emotional) Questions to Uncover the Truth and Get What You Want These questions are for negotiating, especially when the other side is not delighted with your requests or proposals. Advising or buying a business? If you don’t get this right . . . negotiating . . . right from […]
Brokers don’t represent all sellers. Why settle for some of the businesses for sale . . . when you can access all of them? The hidden market is where to find unadvertised businesses for sale by-owner (or could be for sale to buyers who properly approach and interact with owners) . . . with less […]
The most successful buyers begin with two advantages over competing buyers: They know that buying a business is all about search. This 2-Minute Video Reveals What The Savviest Searchers Do They thoroughly research before searching: One of the most important research tasks for people wanting to buy a SMB is to check out pricing ratios […]
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