Business Broker » Business Owner

Batting Cage Business – Making Profits With the Swing of a Bat

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:19:16 +0000

There is a Batting Cages Business for those people who love baseball and/or softball. This business will make you a profit and will help raise the self-esteem of the children who come to your facility. Batting Cage complexes are popping up all over the world.

A Batting Cages Business requires conviction on the part of the business owner. There is just as much or more work for the person wanting to open the batting facility before the grand opening. Many things must be researched, and obtained.

The first thing you should do, is contact your local and state government to find out what requirements and regulations your Batting Cages Business will need to comply with and follow. You will probably need a business license, a sales tax license, insurance and possibly other inspections and licenses. However, by knowing this you will know that this is definitely the right business.

Once you have this information, you can decide if you really want to go to the next phase, the Batting Cages Business business plan. This will be a requirement for several reasons. You will need a business plan to get financing, decide on the services you will provide at your facility, make sure you have all required paperwork, and ensure that you have not forgotten anything. It will also help you price everything out to open, and help you set a budget for your business.

You can find many documents to help you prepare a Batting Cages Business business plan and financial statement at the Small business administration website. This web site should become your best friend. It can help answer questions regarding business, get you in touch with mentors to help you, help with financing, and make sure that you are on track during the start up process and the future.

Another option is to work with a business consultant to prepare your business plan. However, this can be expensive and may take just as long as you doing it yourself. The sample business plan on the Small Business Administration will help you do the exact same thing as a business consultant. Plus, by doing the footwork on your own, it will give you a sense of the monetary value your venture will entail, and will better help you establish the operating budget.

While creating your business plan, you should consider whether you want to purchase the Batting Cages Business franchise or build one on your own. You will want to research the pros and cons. The advantage of a franchise is that you purchase the name, support, training, and equipment. The only other thing you have to purchase is the location. You also get their marketing and expertise in the industry.

If you decide to build your Batting Cages Business from the ground up, you will be required to purchase the location, and all the equipment. It is not impossible, but you will have to get the name out into the public and build credibility. You will also probably have a time where you are learning about the business through trial and error, which can produce losses of income or customers, depending on how you set your prices.

It is usually a little more expensive to purchase the franchise at the beginning, but the advantages usually outweigh this problem. Depending on your location, it may actually be cheaper to buy a franchise. You need to consider all your options, and doing this while creating your Batting Cages Business business plan. It is also during this time that you will need to decide on a location for your business.

You have made your decision, have a promising location in mind, and you have your business plan completed. You will now need to get financing. You will need to create a proposal explaining the advantages of your Batting Cages Business venture and show your business plan. You can try to get financing through private individuals, banks, or the Small Business Administration. If you don’t get financing right away, don’t get discouraged. Look over your proposal and business plan, make changes if needed and keep trying. You will eventually get the funding you need.

Once you have financing you can purchase the location, and start building your Batting Cages Business facilities. However, this doesn’t mean that you are done. You need to constantly update your business plan, it should be considered a dynamic document. You will also need to subscribe to newsletters, and periodicals, check new books and web sites to keep on top of the industry.

Enjoy your venture and look at the smiling faces of the people coming to your facility to know it was all worth it.

By: Randy Wilson

Business Success: Luck or Hard Work?

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:24:30 +0000

A very large percentage of businesses fail within a few years of opening. A lot of websites on the internet have been abandoned and can be considered failures. When people fail at things the first thing the look at is how hard they worked. If someone fails at something when they give maximum effort they may be puzzled as to why things did not go the way they would have liked. The thing that many people do not realize is that hard work does not always pay off, although it is still very important in business.

Hard work along with luck and execution are the most important factors to running a successful business. You can work very hard but if you don’t execute correctly it does not matter. If you do not have plans and backup plan it also will not matter. As far as luck goes people are very lucky in many different ways. Maybe one business owner needs a loan to stay in business but cannot get one but he has a rich uncle he can turn to. Maybe a person gets lucky and runs into Donald Trump at a hotel and tells him about an idea he has and Trump wants to help.

Overall business is not just about hard work. You have to work hard to execute the operations of a business in a productive manner and get luck with things like financing and unexpected mention in the press and things of that nature.

By: Andre Bias

Business Capital Sources For Free

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:42:36 +0000

The main goal of any business venture is to survive. Technically speaking, money is the backbone of a successful business establishment. A business can not run without fuel from capitalization. Every business owners are so aware of the fact that starting up or expanding a business must have a solid foundation which is financing. Funding a business is one of the greatest problems for those who desire to be business owners. Adding up to the difficulty is the present economic turmoil hitting the world today. Some business owners are choosing to close down rather than to pursue on operation. However, for the more aggressive and positive entrepreneurs, closing down a business is not helpful at all. Instead, looking for capital sources is the most appropriate thing to do. There is actually free business money for business capitalization and expansion.

Free business money is in form of government grants. The government is offering and entitling every qualified taxpayer and business owner to eligibly accept free business money. Government grants are for real. Some people might be reluctant about such programs offered by the government since there are no public disclosures or even advertisements for their availability. This could be the reason why most people are not aware of government grants for financing a business venture. Also, one reason is that the budget does not allow a specific and exact date of release. The distribution of free business money is only for qualified applicants. Nevertheless, if your application hasn’t been successfully approved, there are still many programs which can consider your application.

Government grants are programs which serve as a homage for loyal taxpayers. The government is constantly allotting budgeted amounts for potential applicants. Whether you are just a novice businessman or even if you’re already a business tycoon, government grants are always reachable. The application process is quite easy to undertake provided with a good sense of compliance and direction as well. You must also forward the correct requirements to avoid delays and hassles. In time, you will be able to be granted with enormous amounts for the capitalization of your business if you are a determined applicant.

It is also important to equip yourself with the proper knowledge on the application process, its terms and conditions, requirements and the category you should fall into. There are many categories of free business money and one must be suitable for you. There are also websites that guide you through the application process and the people to consult. Know whether the sites you are visiting are really revealing the most proper stand during the process.

Your embarkation to the most profitable business starts with planning and budgeting. Government grants are always open to help you out with financial constraints and unavailability. Should there be any hesitations regarding these programs, you can always get in touch with your local administrator or seek for legal advice from a tax lawyer. These people should be able to help you out in facing your business dilemmas. The source of fund must be well prioritized in order to get your business going.

By: Christina Gruble

Succession Planning For Business

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:56:44 +0000

For most business owners in Canada, succession planning is treated almost as an afterthought. Too often, owners don’t prepare themselves or their businesses adequately enough to exit it at its maximum potential value. This article will examine succession planning from the standpoint of the business owner looking for a transition via the sale of a business within a 24-month time horizon or less.

What can be done to increase business value?
The key to proper succession planning is identifying what can be done to a business to maximize the selling price of the company for when it comes time to exit. A business owner should be looking at initiatives that can increase revenue and reduce expenses and add efficiencies to the business.
- Can new market opportunities be explored?
- Can existing clients be sold more goods or services?
- Can margins be improved via operating efficiency?
- Overall, can more be done with less?
- Can management responsibility be diversified so that a new owner will have a stable base of staff?

If the intention is to sell a business then the potential buyer will want to see yearly improvements to the results. A business that has slightly declining results would not command the same valuation as a company that is improving.

Get your books in order
Proper succession planning requires that the financial statements of the business are presentable. Too many small and medium-sized business owners use their businesses to expense personal or discretionary items in order to save in income taxes. A business buyer that is considering buying a business for succession will be given a big increase in comfort if the financial statements are accountant-prepared and that the results don’t include too many discretionary adjustments.

Tax planning
The goal of succession planning is to not only map out an exit from the venture but to also determine how you can structure a deal so that your tax exposure is minimized. Work with a C.A. or other tax specialist to determine what your potential tax hit is on different types of deal structures (example: asset sale vs. share sale). Knowing this before you list your business for sale will benefit you greatly during the negotiations.

Get prepared for the sale
Selling a business for succession purposes is not an easy task. The process can take several months with false starts and difficult compromises that may potentially be required. Work with a qualified business broker to learn more about the process well in advance of listing your company on the market.

Wealth management
Another issue to consider for planning your business succession is what to do with any funds received after a deal has been completed. Again, you should talk to your taxation advisors but also to a wealth manager to determine how best to invest your proceeds from the sale.

The points listed above are but a sampling of some of the issues to think about regarding business succession. If you are seriously considering exiting your business, the best advice you can follow is to plan your succession process early. Talk to a business broker, accountant, lawyer and succession planning consultant well in advance to map out a strategy that is most beneficial to you.

By: Steven Skrlac

Ground Rules for Successfully Selling Your Business

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:28:29 +0000

Sooner or later you are going to exit your business. The question isn’t whether or not you will be ready. The sixty four thousand dollar question is whether or not your business will be ready.

It is estimated that seven out of ten privately held businesses have no succession plan to transfer the business to the next generation of owners. What does that mean to you? It means that if you do not currently have a plan in place to transfer your business to family members, existing partners, management or employees, someday you will think about selling your business.

That day might come sooner than you anticipate. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because you are not currently ready to retire that you have plenty of time to prepare your business for sale.

As a business broker, I have been involved in a number of transactions (and potential transactions) where the business owner wanted to sell, or in some instances, was forced to exit the business earlier than expected. In fact, retirement is NOT the number one reason why businesses sell.

Here is a list of the most common reasons why owners sell (or otherwise discontinue) their businesses:

Burn-out (the number one reason for selling)

Health issues

Personal diversification

Retirement/semi-retirement

Death

Divorce/partner disputes

Business growing too fast

Second generation not up to the task

Loss of market share

TAKE GOOD CARE

The sad truth is that many business owners do not take good care of their most valuable asset: the business. They don’t groom someone to continue the business in their absence, and do not keep the business in salable shape during the time they operate the business.

Business owners tend to get too bogged down in the day to day business operations to worry about–or plan for an event that they perceive won’t occur until sometime in the distant future; selling the business.

Unfortunately, fate sometimes dictates circumstances beyond your control, and tough decisions must be made. If your business isn’t ready to sell when the time comes, what are your alternatives?

1. Liquidation of business assets—may be a solution, but one that usually returns very little money to the business owner. If the business had been an operating business, the underlying assets (except for real estate) may be outdated and of little use to anyone. At auction, the assets will bring only what the attending bidders are willing to pay. In some instances, underlying assets are sold to liquidators (or scrap) for only pennies on the dollar. Liquidation of a going business often occurs where the owners have become ill or disabled, or need to retire and have not planned adequately for their exit from the business.

2. Closing the business—is even less attractive than liquidation. That is because many who find themselves in this situation have a tendency to “put off” liquidating the underlying assets in hope that maybe someone will come along to buy this business. This almost never happens.

BUILD WEALTH NOW BY PLANNING FOR THE SALE OF YOUR BUSINESS

Okay, so you think you have enough to do without throwing more onto the pile. Am I right? That is why I have written this article for you. It provides a “down and dirty” overview of things that you ought to begin thinking about and planning for right now. Doing so will provide you with an additional safety net that will help safeguard your valuable business asset.

Here are just a few of the benefits of planning now:

A planned sale allows for your goals and objectives on your timetable

You may begin to identify potential buyers

You may be able to create an attractive acquisition candidate

You can begin to understand why a buyer may want to buy

You might learn why buyers would not want to buy—and be able to fix the problems

You may begin to realize the worth of your business now, and learn how to increase the value as part of your retirement planning

BUSINESS VALUE HOUSEKEEPING CHECKLIST

Record All Sales

Business owners often invent remarkable ways to beat the tax collector. But the taxman can be a business owner’s best friend when it comes to selling one’s business. Income taxes are a great investment in the years immediately preceding an anticipated sale of the business.

Paying income tax proves to the buyer AND the banker that your business operations have been profitable.
Nobody wants to pay more income tax. But consider this example: Ronald Bunk systematically underreported business income by an average of $20,000 per year. Assuming a combined tax rate of 40%, Mr. Bunk saved $8,000 in taxes per year. But, the underreported income also reduced the company’s earnings base by $20,000 per year. If, for example, the business could be sold for a multiple of 5x the company’s reported earning base—the company would sell for $100,000 less ($20,000 average earning base not reported times the price multiple of 5) than it is really worth!

Without considering the time value of money, it would take in excess of twelve years of (illegal) tax savings to make up for the loss of $100,000 in business value. The lesson: In trying to screw the government, business owners often find themselves on the short end of the stick; often in more ways than one.

Eliminate co-mingling of business and non business assets

A common practice among closely held companies is to co-mingle non business assets and expenses with business assets and expenses. I have seen businesses owning motor coaches, boats and airplanes; all reported as business assets. The costs of maintaining and operating the assets were expensed as regular business operating expenses.

It is true that those businesses (not audited by the IRS) are saving a certain amount of income tax, and providing an extra “fringe” benefit for the owners of the company.

Wise business owners should endeavor to separate non business assets from the business in the three to five years before a planned sale of the company. Doing so will make it much easier to accurately measure and reflect the true earning power of the business, as it will be unfettered by the capital investment in non business assets and the associated costs.

Buyers of your business are generally purchasing future income and benefit streams that will be produced by your business. The leaner and more productive your business is—the more it is worth. It is never too early to begin segregating non business assets from your business, as it may take some planning and time.

Do your own due diligence

Some executives of both public and private firms get a physical check-up once a year. Many of these same executives think nothing of having their personal investments reviewed at least once a year, if not more often. Yet, these same prudent executives never consider giving their company an annual physical, unless they are required to by company rules, regulations or some other necessary reason.

Anyone interested in purchasing your business will perform “due diligence” procedures on your business before closing on the purchase. All too often, sellers are surprised at the skeletons purchasers can find in the closet. These skeletons can reduce the value of your company, and in some cases, kill any chance at closing a sale. What skeletons are your company’s closets?

Why not give your business a periodic physical? In essence, I am suggesting you would do well to treat your business as if someone else owned it—and you were the potential purchaser. What problems would you discover that could cause you and your advisors to reduce or withdraw your offer?

Spending the time and money to discover and fix your company’s problems now will pay huge dividends in the form of increased company value—which is exactly what you want when it’s time to sell.

Compliance with taxing and regulatory authorities

Mountains of regulation often seem to impede a company’s growth and profitability. Some regulations might seem rather easy to “slight” or ignore.

Take for example one of my recent sellers who swore to me that the business had no regulatory violations of any type. I reminded the seller that anything “hidden in the closet” would most likely be discovered in a buyer’s due diligence (investigatory) process. “Nope—no problems of any kind” I was assured.

Well, guess what the buyer’s due diligence turned up? Seems the seller had a couple of shipping/storage containers sitting behind the building—which the sellers KNEW were in violation of local zoning ordinances. How did they know? They had received four previous “reminders” from the trustees about the containers, and the need to remove them.

“Why didn’t you mention that to me, or disclose that fact on your disclosure statement?” I asked. “Gee, nothing ever happened and the township never did anything—so we just figured it was no big deal.” Was the seller’s reasoning.

No big deal, except when the purchaser turned up the non compliance issue, it threw a few extra wrinkles into the mix. In that case, the issue was easily resolved (yet, much to the additional cost and chagrin of the sellers). But, sometimes known violations are not so easily remedied. In those instances, a seller runs the risk of blowing a good deal.

What’s the bottom line?

Clean up any tax, industry, OSHA, EPA or zoning issues with which your company does not comply.

Organize and keep records available. One never knows when opportunity might knock. If and when it does knock, will you be ready to strike while the iron is hot? How many times have you heard someone say something like, “I’d sell anything, including my business for the right price?”

Maybe you have even said it yourself. But would you know what paperwork and documents a serious buyer will immediately need in order to pursue the purchase? When a qualified buyer is ready to begin serious due diligence, they will need a variety of company documents.

Following is a partial list of things a buyer will ask for:

• Three to five years income tax returns

• Copies of one to three years quarterly payroll reports

• Three to five years CPA prepared financial statements

• Current year to date financial statements

• Detailed depreciation schedules listing each fixed asset owned by your company

• Corporate Minute Book with updated minutes

• Recent aged accounts receivable trial balance

• Recent aged accounts payable trial balance

• Company organization chart

• Copy of the Summary of Insurance Coverage (provided by your carrier)

• Information about Employee Benefits provided by the company

• Information about Employee Retirement Plans

• Copies of labor contracts

• Copies of other contracts to which the company is a party

• Copies of licenses, registrations for patents, copyrights, trademarks, etc.

The foregoing list is an example of the types of records your company should have up to date and on hand at all times. These records are extremely important to speed the sales process along. Though this advice sounds basic, I often encounter companies whose records are not complete and up to date. This situation can dramatically affect a potential sale.

I suggest using a three ring binder to keep the basic updated records available at all times. This also makes other business needs for the documents much more manageable.

CONCLUSION

You can increase your wealth by knowing a few simple ground rules for successfully selling your business. Just like other owners of closely-held businesses, you know how to operate your business on a day to day, month to month and year to year basis. But your experience in running the business has not prepared you to know how to sell your business.

While the information I provided in this article is not all inclusive, it should help you get started in preparing your business for a successful sale—no mater when the business might be sold.

By: Grover Rutter