From our Blog

How Will Baby Boomers Sell Their Businesses?

By Randy Koroluk | January 23, 2017

The First Wave of Baby Boomers Is Wondering How To Divest Their Businesses An entire generation of successful entrepreneurs is now asking itself, “What next”? And that’s just scratching the surface. The first wave of baby boomers – a generation now typically aged about 50 to 68 – is wondering how to divest their businesses. I know from experience that now…

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The Right Time to Sell?

By Randy Koroluk | January 23, 2017

Pinpointing the Right Time to Sell Your Business The past few years have been very good to my friend Bill. His business is flourishing and each year has been better than the last-quite a common situation in Alberta right now. “I’m not quite ready to retire,” Bill said the other day. “The company is doing better than ever.” His…

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A Good Handicap & Business Value

By Randy Koroluk | January 23, 2017

How a Good Handicap Increases The Value Of Your Business One of the most entertaining conversations I have with business owners is my ‘go golfing’ metaphor discussion. During my formative years as a Business Broker, I developed a valuation model that was supported with ‘The Ten Fundamental Factors That Affect Business Value’.  One of these…

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Baby Boomers Devalue Your Business

By Randy Koroluk | January 23, 2017

Baby Boomers: The Real Culprit Affecting Business Value One of the most interesting conversations I have been having with business owners coming through my office lately is about what the future holds regarding the value of their business. Virtually all business owners are concerned how low oil prices and the effect of an NDP government will affect…

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EBITDA & CAPEX

By Randy Koroluk | January 16, 2017

EBITDA, Normalized EBITDA, & CAPEX Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is a measure of the cash flow of a business. EBITDA is calculated as follows: Net income before taxes + Interest on long-term debt + Depreciation and amortization Normalized EBITDA Smaller, privately owned businesses typically require additional adjustments to EBITDA: Revenues or expenses…

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Business Valuation Multiples

By Randy Koroluk | January 16, 2017

A multiple, or multiplier, is applied to the cash flow (in our case, EBITDA) of a business to determine its value. The multiple is a way of measuring a buyer’s level of risk. The higher the multiple, the lower the perceived level of risk. That’s why large “Dow Jones” businesses sell for much higher multiples…

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Value Enhancement: Qualitative Factors in Selling a Business

By Randy Koroluk | January 16, 2017

If you’re not planning to sell your business right away, you have the opportunity to build its value. Bear in mind though, that the landscape for selling businesses has changed significantly. A majority of business owners are nearing retirement and the upcoming 5-10 years or longer will likely be a buyer’s market. This is a…

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Qualitative Factors in Selling a Business

By Randy Koroluk | January 16, 2017

It’s obvious that buyers will first look at the financial factors of a business for sale, such as past and current profitability and trends. If a business isn’t profitable, it has no value beyond the value of its assets. Assuming a business is profitable, it will have a certain value to buyers. The value, however,…

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Business Value Drivers

By Randy Koroluk | January 16, 2017

Business value drivers are those factors that can affect the value of your business and the eventual sale price. Although they could all be important, there are some that are almost always examined by buyers. These are what we call the Ten Fundamental Factors That Affect Business Value, or the key business value drivers. Key…

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Business Value: What’s Your Business Worth?

By Randy Koroluk | January 16, 2017

It’s natural that you would place a higher value on your business than a buyer would. You probably invested years into building your business, and you no doubt have some strong emotional ties to it. But buyers just want to know if buying your business is a good investment. It’s rare for them to have…

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