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A business owners exit is a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. Were not talking about selling a house or a car. This is a complex process that requires the technical expertise of a team of trusted advisors. The key to any successful business exit is planning. It must begin with personal reflection on the part of the owner regarding what he or she wants out of the business exit. Only then can the owner, along with his advisors, design an appropriate exit strategy. The five (5) planning steps outlined in this article are designed to help business owners define their personal goals, understand all the transfer options and work with an advisory team to execute a successful business exit plan.

Step 1: Define the Personal Goals of the Owner

Since personal goals intertwine so closely with the daily existence of a private business owner, it only makes sense to begin with the basic albeit crucial question, What do I want to accomplish with my business exit? The answer seems obvious–make the most money after taxes and fees. Often, however, it isnt this simple. Owners have nourished and raised their businesses from infancy; they typically care a lot about who will take the reigns. Family members might also be involved in the business. Their fate will also be dependent upon what the business owner ultimately decides.

Aside from money, other motives for a business exit can include transfers to family, transfers to employees, transfers to co-owners, partial transfers to gain some liquidity today but still run the companys day-to-day business, or an initial public offering. The decision often comes down to a question of liquidity. A substantial source of liquidity outside the business makes for a much easier choice.

However, more often than not an owners wealth is tied up in the business. The owner must therefore balance his financial and interpersonal goals in order to find the best possible exit strategy. Therefore, an assessment of the range of values for the business is the crucial next step.

Step 2: Understand that a Range of Values Exist for the Business

The value of a privately-held business depends largely upon who buys it. Its not as simple as watching the ticker tape for todays stock price. The type of buyer can impact both the price placed on the shares (or assets) of the business and the tax consequences to the selling owner. Value (net transfer price) is therefore a range concept.

Internal transfers to employees, family, and co-owners provide fewer dollars up front, but allow for greater control of the business, continued income, and flexible timing and tax characterization of payments to the exiting business owner. By contrast, External transfers to other industry players, financial groups, or by initial public offering command more liquidity up front while the owner relinquishes more control over the Company and the timing and tax characterization of payments. A closer examination of the transfer options can help an exiting business owner determine the right balance of money and control over the future of the business.

Step 3: Examine the Options Available for the Transfer of Shares

There are seven (7) primary purchasers of privately-held business stock (or assets). Below are listed the Parties to the Transaction and Types of Transactions Available (samples; not a complete list)

Internal Parties:

Employees – Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
Charity – Charitable Remainder Trust
Family- Gifting Program
Co-owners – Leveraged Buyout

External Parties:
Financial Groups – Recapitalization
Industry Buyers – Acquisition (at Synergy Value)
Initial Public Offerings – IPO (at Public Market Value)

Based on the primary goals defined in step one (1), an exiting business owner chooses the party to whom the business will be transferred. That designee, once chosen, will determine the limits or expansion of the Value. At the end of this phase, the process comes full circle as the Value (after taxes and fees) is matched against the owners goals. If the two meet as one, congratulations! A successful business exit strategy has been devised. Now its time to execute.

Step 4: Provide Full Financial Disclosure to the Buyer

This step isnt going to be easy on the business owner. Assembling financial records and presenting them to a buyer/successor is a very time consuming, very personal survey of how the business is run. It can be huge psychological block for many exiting owners. Remember, any savvy buyer (or successor) to a business will need to understand the financial condition of the Company. When an owner fesses up to any creative accounting they may have employed over the years to help build wealth and reduce tax bills, the process goes smoother. Full disclosure is the best path to a seamless process. There is an old saying – if the truth will kill a deal, then there is no deal.

Not only that, but it may reward the owner in the end. Full disclosure is not about passing judgment, but instead affords the buyer (or successor) an opportunity to assess the businesss true profit potential. The astute exiting business owner will recognize this in advance. Why? Because most creative accounting practices depress the profitability of a business. Clear those away and the Buyer will recognize a higher earning power and in turn a higher Value for the Company.

Step 5: Assembling the Advisory Team No One Should Go It Alone

Planning and executing a successful business exit strategy is a complex process that requires the technical expertise of a team of trusted advisors. Its not the time to take short cuts or pinch pennies. Time and money should be invested in assembling the right team of advisors; a successful business exit is more than worth it. It should be viewed as an investment in success.

We must understand that business owners are independent self-starters. If they werent, their businesses wouldnt be so successful and we wouldnt be talking to them. But some of their strengths and characteristics can lead many business owners to attempt the do-it-yourself business exit strategy. This can create an unnecessary drain of time and money on both the business owner and their business.

A business owners exit is a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. It is an important milestone that is sure to provide any business owner with one of the most challenging yet satisfying sense of accomplishments.

So remember, planning is the key to any successful business exit because a proactive approach to an Exit Strategy is the only approach to a successful Exit Strategy. If youve come to the end of this discussion, youre already ahead of the game.

When a business is looking to market a service or product, they commonly give out business cards. But when ordering such business cards, it’s rarely given much thought as to how much options such as lamination can really benefit a business. As it turns out, there is much to gain from this untapped aspect in business cards.

The process of lamination gives business cards a coating of plastic that can shield the business card from harm or dirt. This benefits the one who buys them, usually the business, as their business cards will last longer before needing replacements. This reinforced plastic can withstand tears, stains, and a wide variety of other substances that normal business cards would be rendered useless by.

The potential customer also benefits from the lamination of a business card, in the sense that they will always have an easy source of contact information thanks to the extended longevity in life of the business card. If a business card lasts longer, customers can appreciate a long term usage of it- which also in turn helps out businesses by reducing reprint costs.

Lamination also gives business cards a sleek design and feel to them- meaning they stand out from the rest. If a possible client is going through business cards, it is likely that the most visually appealing cards will be the first viewed. The slick exterior of a laminated business card can help cards stand out in such a way that gives them edge over competitors who stick to convention formats of business cards.

While laminated cards can have a wide plethora of benefits, there is the disadvantage of not being able to write on them with just any writing utensil. Pencils and pens will do little for customers who want to write on the plastic, and one must usually resort to markers. Other types of lamination, which costs more, can alleviate this frustration by using special coating material that can be written on.

As far as pricing goes, it should be expected that business cards with lamination will almost always cost more than those that don’t. This is because it takes extra work and materials to give the coating its ability to shield all of the obscene from the business card inside. But as previously mentioned, the benefits can often be too great to ignore- as the longevity and repeat business that laminated business cards give is too beneficial to discount.

Today, the demand for e-commerce websites is increasing as every new and then person prefers to purchase products and services online from the comfort of their home. Most of the businesses have decided to enter in the e-commerce market to earn more profit and boost their business worldwide.

However, developing an e-commerce website is not easily possible for businesses as they need to opt for highly interactive, flexible and secure e-commerce solution that allows them to build an excellent site to sell their plenty of products. When it comes to talk about the most widely used platform, Magento is an open source e-commerce platform that can be used to develop high-end e-commerce site.

You can build e-commerce store that displays your products/services exceptionally and build strong brand of your business. Using Magento, it becomes also possible for you to customize your store as per your requirements no matter whether you are running a small, medium or big enterprise. Compare to other components, Magento is very much flexible and stuffed with state-of-the-art features.

With Magento, users can also get huge level of flexibility as it is easy to use platform that helps users to manage product browsing, managing catalog and payments. Magento website development is one of the best platforms, which considered excellent for bringing business to limelight so that people can make their choice easily.

Equipped with high level flexibility, Magento offers customers a complete satisfied service, and in addition to this, it also helps to retain the customers for longer. Due to highly flexible platform, Magento is the first choice of customers, and it also serves multiple capabilities for website development. The best part of this platform is that developers can enjoy working on this platform because of its smoothly molded requirement to the e-store. For developers, it is one of the best stages to work creatively and show their talent.

Franchising is known to be among the available options that businessmen and entrepreneurs can use as business opportunities without having to go through the usual motions of having to brainstorm and hypothesize on studies that most business tycoons would initially make. Franchising can be seen today in local food chain stores like McDonald’s, Burger King and Subway. They are practically seen in all countries of the world.

Mixed Origins of Franchising
Franchising does not really have a clear trace of its background. There has been various information as to where the franchising business originated. These include countries like China, England, and Europe and of course the United States. It is even traced as far as the Middle Ages where the business opportunity issues back then was more on the lack of transportation for the goods to be transferred from one place to another. Other considered franchising as well as a means of establishing stands, vendors and a better means of being able to offer goods towards customers in other places within the coverage area.

Franchising at a Glance
Franchising is not a new term for defining business opportunities. It extends as far as home business opportunities for people who would want to be their own boss and hold their own business hours. Franchises would usually depend on the location to which franchisees would want them to be located, ideally in populated and commercialized areas for maximum exposure. Depending on the product or service to which the franchise caters, people can even do business from their own footsteps at home. This way the expenses to be incurred such as rent or warehouse allocation expense can be avoided, an expense that is certainly something tough on the budget allocation constraints of franchise owners.

Think Big but Start Small
A franchising business does not have to start big. Just like any ordinary business, it can start from the simplest and smallest business. Like most business endeavors, as long as they are managed properly, business can grow at an instant at any time. Franchises are not different from conceptualized businesses and the varying factor would be the people who would run it and how they would view such a business at a glance.

Placement and Scope of Target Market
Placement of franchise establishments, just like any other product that most people would be interested in today would have to analyze and survey the market class to which they would want to serve. It is not merely a place and operate venture. It requires gathering strategies and putting minds into action, the usual backbone towards success in business ventures.

There will always be issues concerning the target market and identifying what product or service to serve. This has always been the issue that makes businesses different from others and unless it is properly defined, a franchise or business will falter eventually if franchising business owners are not careful.