Articles

Blue River Financial Group – When middle market business owners place their privately held companies for sale, they soon discover the market is the final determiner of value, not appraisers, CPAs, or even their own opinions. The market can delight or disappoint depending on an owner’s expectations. Disappointment inevitably arises when the highest offers received […]

Much of our value as M&A advisors is found in redirecting your focus, from what your business is worth today, to what it could be worth when it is ultimately ready to sell. When business owners decide to put their company on the market, it’s natural for them to wonder What is my business worth? and What should […]

Your business has no doubt been under a lot of economic pressure over the last 15 months or so. That pressure may stem from too much or too little demand for your products or services. A lot of either type of pressure can make it very tempting to sell your business now, but selling your […]

Some of our most successful deals resulted from the owner’s patient, resolute commitment to preparing their business to sell at the right time, for top dollar. The sale of a business is different than the sale of any other asset. Unlike real estate or capital equipment, which can often sell quickly at a good price, […]

I have met thousands of business owners over the decades, and the majority of small to medium-sized business owners/entrepreneurs are “do-it-yourselfers.”   Most have survived many challenges along with some failures but have continued to work diligently which is why they are successful today. They believe in themselves, as they should, and many believe they do […]

The COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary halt to virtually all M&A transactions earlier this year, and for good reason too. We’re about seven months into the pandemic and the future is still uncertain with no clear path forward. We are starting to see more deals put back on the table and buyers are reemerging to […]

Business owners, including business brokers, should take a moment to answer this important question: what happens to the interest in your company when you decide to sell your shares, you become incapacitated, or you are deceased? If your answer to the question is “I don’t know,” you aren’t alone. Many businesses fail to answer these […]

Integrative negotiations seek to create value and expand the pie  Creating value is the name of the game in integrative negotiations and these principles also apply to the highly competitive realm of business negotiations. In the business world, why is competition so often the norm, while cooperation seems like an impossible goal? One of the […]

When preparing to sell a business, a mistake you will want to avoid is failing to pay enough attention to the variety of legal issues involved in a business sale transaction. The wrong legal mistake can stop a sale in its tracks. Worse, it could cost a small fortune to unravel. Thus, it is critically […]

Many small businesses have closed, severely reduced output, or are slowly reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic.  So why would a business buyer consider moving forward with a transaction in such a dismal environment?  This is why:  Business Owners are Motivated to Sell  A large percentage of small business owners are Baby Boomers that have survived 9/11 and […]