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Monthly Archives

February 2024

Preparing Your Business For Sale

Preparing your business for Sale, represented by image of businessperson working on laptop
When it comes to preparing your business for sale, the journey involves much more than just putting a price tag on it; it requires meticulous preparation and strategic positioning to ensure that your business is an attractive asset to potential buyers. Beyond knowing how to sell your business, at the core of preparing is answering the fundamental question: Does the business run independent of your involvement? Can the business operate without you Many entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize the difference between owning a business and owning a job. If your presence is critical for the daily operations, then you're essentially self-employed; you own a job. This dependency often scales inversely with the business's size. When you are the rainmaker, leader, manager, and CEO all wrapped into one, what you're selling is limited to tangible assets, rather than a sustainable enterprise. A business that can't operate in your absence is...
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S&P 500 Reaches 5,000 To Mark Record For US Stocks

  Last week, the S&P 500 hit 5,000 for the first time in history. Is this a transient thing, or is this a new normal? The S&P 500 hit the 5,000 mark on Thursday. The markets closed Friday over 5,000. They're up 5% year-to-date. That's pretty nice for six weeks. However, all of this move has been driven by two companies, NVIDIA and Meta. NVIDIA makes the chips that are so popular for gaming and also AI devices. Meta of course, is Facebook. They're both up 30% year-to-date. It's an even more focused rally than we saw last year. In fact, the equal weighted version of the S&P 500 where each stock is given the same weighting rather than what we call cap weighting, the S&P 500 has barely moved below its peak of 2021. In other words, these few companies are leaving the rest of the market behind. Now...
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Viva La Revolucion!

  Believe it or not, 45% of Americans aged 18 to 45 years old believe that socialism is the ideal economic system for the United States. Well, as a result of my recent travels, I think I might've discovered a fix for that attitude. I just came back from my second trip to Cuba in six years and it's been fascinating. Frankly, I was shocked by the extent of the decay in just six years. I was surprised when I saw what are called "power ships" in the harbor. These are ships from Turkey that have generators and fuel, to generate power and sell it to Cuba because Cuba's generation system, Cuba's transmission system, Cuba's governance, has pretty much come to complete failure. Those who know a little bit about Cuba just know affectionately that the clock stopped in 1959, and a lot of the cars are pre-1959, a lot...
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Anti-Money Laundering Reporting Frightening LLC and Other Entity Owners

  There's a lot of noise being made about these beneficial ownership information reports that the Treasury is asking anybody who owns an LLC or certain other entities to file immediately. How big a deal is this, and what can you do about it? The CTA BOIR reporting brings the United States in line with global reporting standards designed to counter money laundering and global crime. Finally, after many years of delay, those rules have come into force this year. There are different deadlines for different entities. If you came into the year with existing entities, you have until the end of the year to make a report. If you create an entity this year, however, you'll have a shorter period of time to make that report, and after next year, it'll be a much shorter period of time. So, this new set of rules creates a number of compliance...
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Business Valuation and Common Misconceptions and Associated Risks

Women holding iPad, reflecting a business valuation
Maneuvering through the intricate landscape of business valuation can be as challenging as it is critical for owners looking to sell their business - their life's work. The valuation process is not merely an academic exercise but a practical one that can significantly influence the final sale price of a business.  It's essential for business owners to understand that an early, independent valuation serves a dual purpose: it provides a snapshot of the current worth and highlights potential value increases through operational improvements. This article delves into the complexities of business valuation, exploring common misconceptions and strategic considerations to ensure that entrepreneurs maximize their wealth when the time comes to sell. Understanding Different Business Valuation Methods 1. Market Comparison Valuation Approach Also known as the Market Approach, the Market Comparison Valuation Approach, is a method for valuing a business by comparing it to similar businesses that have been sold recently....
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