Business Exit Planning

If you’re planning to sell your business now or in the future, the following articles will help you discover some of the key issues involved in the process. All these articles are based on real life experiences with hundreds of business owners, and should help you prepare for the sale.

Take Some Equity From Your Business Now to Secure Your Retirement

As a passionate businessman, I have a great opportunity at Alberta Business Exchange to view all kinds of businesses, meet a multitude of entrepreneurs, and see how these entrepreneurs handle  challenges such as labour shortages, rapid growth, legislative changes that affect their business, and a host of many other things. Watching and learning from how these amazing…

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Understanding and Creating Value in your Business

During the past 15 years , I have had great opportunity to meet thousands of business owners. After all this time, it’s very interesting to reflect on the common characteristics of the owners of businesses that are most successful. The principles and values practiced every day by these individuals are almost exactly the same as many of the principles used in valuing a business. So…

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Let’s Be Reasonable When Negotiating

Balancing the Give and Take in Negotiations Over the past 15 years, I’ve become very familiar with the challenges impeding the deal-making process. The Alberta  Business Exchange has, of course, developed systems and policies to maximize your chances of success, but I have seen deals go south due to issues that should not have been material.…

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Business Improvement or Big Mistake

The Best Thing to Do When Selling Your Business is to Show Stable Consistent Revenue, Growth and Capital Expenditures. The business was great. It had survived the recession and had steady revenue, growing profitability with plenty of opportunity for expansion and growth. But we were having a difficult time getting an offer. Why? To sum it up, the business…

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Buyer Quality vs Quantity

The Alberta Business Exchange Eliminates Tire-Kicking Through Its Custom Qualification Process During my formative years as a Business Broker, I spent a lot of time talking to buyers. In fact, two or three hours of every day were dedicated to spending time with people interested in purchasing a business. The problem was that there were an incredible number of tire-kickers – people who wanted…

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Trust – The Cornerstone to Dealmaking

In a few months, I will have been helping families sell their businesses for 15 years! After almost 150 transactions, I often think I’ve seen it all. Even though my success record has been very good, there have been failed transactions. But, of all the transactions, there has always been one underlying factor – trust. Trust for the Buyer, the…

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Taking Advantage of a Slowdown: Act Now

I’ve been noticing something lately: the owners of all the good businesses—the businesses I know are going to sell—are busier than ever when business is slow. In talking to these people, I’ve learned that they act instead of waiting around to see what the economy does. They take steps to protect their businesses and then they use…

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How to Sell Your Business During a Recession

Now May Be the Best Time to Sell Your Business You’ve been through Alberta’s boom and bust cycle two or three times and you don’t want to rebuild again. At The Alberta Business Exchange, I’m hearing from business owners in a variety of industries who want to sell but are worried about selling during a recession.  Most…

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Patience Please

Knowing What to Expect Makes Selling Your Business Easier Within minutes of deciding to sell their businesses, some owners are already picturing themselves sailing serenely on the clear blue waters of the Pacific – or golfing – or spending time with family. What they don’t realize is that making the decision is just the beginning. Selling your business is a…

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Planning Your Exit Strategy

Understanding Your Business Exit Strategy Can Provide Tremendous Peace of Mind One day you will make the decision to sell your business. Whether that day is within the next few months or next several years, the time to start planning your exit strategy is probably now. Too many people wait too long and the results can be overwhelming. As we near the summer…

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