Articles

Are Business Owners Facing an Exit Plandemic? [SURVEY RESULTS]

In 2015 I wrote a blog post for Forbes titled Did the Recession Hijack Your Exit Strategy? There were many business owners who were either unable to exit their business -- or had to postpone their exit date by several years -- as a result of the Great Recession. In...

Middle Market M&A Link Roundup: COVID-19 Issue

Building Value, Planning to Sell, Uncategorized

Advice and resources for protecting the value and sellability of your business during the COVID-19 crisis.

Mike Finger’s Big Problem With Business Brokers

Building Value, Planning to Sell

If you follow me on social media, you’ve doubtless seen a lot of shared content from Mike Finger of Exit Oasis. Mike is a business owner who has lived through the selling process and now advises other owners on “learning to leave” their business. Mike’s blog posts...

Does Luck Play A Role In Selling Your Business?

Building Value, Planning to Sell

We've all met the “lucky” entrepreneur. You know the one; that business owner who breaks the rules, or ignores them completely, and succeeds despite bad decisions and visible shortcomings. Sometimes it’s obvious what their stroke of luck was -- great timing, great...

Business Valuation: 5 Questions You Must Ask Before You Start

Clients, Valuation

Whether you've been told that you need a business valuation, or you’ve simply decided it's time to know what your business is worth, it can be difficult to know where to start. Chances are you've never had your business valued before, nor do you know of anyone who...

For Couples Selling a Business: 4 Things to Consider

Mindset, Planning to Sell

There’s a lot of humor to be found in the entrepreneurial life. One of the funniest things I heard was during an initial meeting we had with a married couple about selling their business. “We’ve been married for 30 years,” the wife told us. “But we’ve been in business...

Signing a Business Broker’s Contract? Read This First.

Clients, Planning to Sell, Ready Page, Ready to Sell

Selling a business is the antithesis of a cookie-cutter affair. While there are several commonalities, every deal truly is different. Many business owners embark on the process of selling their business thinking that it will be similar to selling a piece of real...

8 Simple Hacks To Increase The Value Of Your Business

Building Value, Planning to Sell, Valuation, Valuation Detail

If you look at reasons why deals fail to close, there’s one that tops the list. By “tops” I don’t mean in the top three or five. We’re talking the number one reason businesses don’t sell: Valuation. When you're faced with a "value gap" -- i.e. the current value of...

Middle Market M&A Link Roundup: Issue #12

Building Value, Coffee Break, Planning to Sell

Saddle up! We’ve been riding the Interwebs on your behalf, searching for golden nuggets of small-business wisdom to share. All kidding aside, following are some of the best articles we’ve run across on selling a business, buying a business, business valuation,...

Show Your Business Some Love: Get A Valuation

Building Value, Buyers, Valuation

We're big fans of spreading the love when it comes to arming business owners with useful information. We do this at Allan Taylor not only by creating original content on our blog, but also by sharing great articles about M&A and business valuation written by...

3 Lessons Learned From A Decade In M&A

Exit Planning, Mindset, Planning to Sell

There’s something about the ten-year mark that makes one pause and look inward. I’m not sure the exact day I set foot in the M&A industry. Perhaps it was the day in 2005, when Chris and I started talking about selling our own business. Or maybe it was the day in...

Why M&A People Make Me Cranky [Interview]

Exit Planning, Planning to Sell

I first met Josh Patrick in 2009 when I was writing a blog for the New York Times. We quickly connected based on our shared attitudes around small business -- namely the need for owners to create a business with transferrable value, and to be more proactive about...