什么可以增加或减少你的业务价值? (播客)

If you are selling your business, proving profitability is likely one of your main priorities. 在商业交易的世界, 盈利并不是买家唯一想要的. In many cases, making your business worth the asking price is about leveraging those other factors.

Mike Hirschberg of Northborne Partners joined 交易摘要 for a discussion of those enhancers and detractors in a business transaction. 总监, 他帮助卖家, 买家, 而投资者则能在M世界的细微差别和陷阱中游遍&A. Here is what he had to share about how to position a business for sale.

Listen to this conversation on 交易摘要, a podcast from Redpath:

事务中业务价值的增强者

一个强大、聪明、敬业的管理团队

“很难强调深度的价值有多大, strong, 有能力的管理团队可以增加潜在的报价,迈克说. 越熟悉越好, 投资, 你的管理团队知识渊博, 它在企业出售中增加的价值就越大. And 管理 who wants to stay on can add even more – by "a multiple or two of EBITDA."

"You may have a transaction where a strategic or you assume a strategic acquirer may not want those individuals for the long term,迈克补充道, "but being able to present them as an option always drives value and interests, 特别是如果他们是有才华的人 ... The important thing is that those individuals are aligned economically with the goals of the transaction and more importantly, that they are aligned or interested in staying involved with the business post transaction."

打造一支强大的管理团队可能需要数年，而不是数月. But the benefits go far beyond what you can get for the business in a sale. 阅读我们的博客 如果没有强大的领导团队，你就无法进行4项商业行动.

成长的历史和持续成长的地位

Growth opportunities can be an incredible enhancer of a business's transaction value, 尤其是如果买家的目标包括收购. "Growth opportunities are often a value enhancer to the extent that they are ... 能够清晰地表达给潜在的买家或投资者，”迈克说. 当然，业绩记录是有帮助的，但背景对买家来说是关键.

"If you've already acquired a couple of businesses in the past and have a proven ability to integrate those, 不仅仅是从纯粹的财务角度来看, 而且从文化的角度来看, 那么我认为你通常会因此得到一些赞扬 ... 但是你必须在它周围有一些离散的数字, 你必须能够向潜在的买家证明这个数学问题."

使用数据来理解和运行业务

在证明(和提高)你的业务的销售价值, 可量化的总是比可量化的更有价值. 迈克说即使在M的世界里&答:“人们专注于使用数据来做出更好的决策."

Key metrics can be used to not just measure but actually drive sales, 提高利润率, 填满管道——所有对买家来说都很重要的东西. The data is what makes your business understandable and attractive to potential 买家. Mike says that having a 管理 team who understands the data is vital: "Investors or 买家 really want to feel comfortable that the individuals that are ... in charge of the overall business understand what the underlying components are.

"The bigger issue is when you have 管理 that doesn't understand the drivers of financial performance and how individual elements of their decision making affect the broader P&他补充道. "And when you're meeting in front of investors and 买家 and are unable to articulate why certain financial metrics look this way or that way, then that's usually what causes the most concern and then detracts from value."

收益报告的质量

While a host of different factors can influence valuation and negotiation, there is some truth to the adage that businesses are only as good as their financials and 管理. 为此目的, a quality of earnings report has a special importance in a transaction, 而且不仅仅是对买家而言.

迈克说:“我们面临的挑战一直是如何平衡. 作为卖家, 他说, "You don't want to leave money on the table – but if you're too aggressive or you have too many adjustments as a percentage or proportion of adjusted EBITDA [earnings before interest, 税, 折旧, 及摊销), 然后它会让投资者和买家感到害怕”，并吸引更低的市盈率. A report from the seller creates credibility for the seller and confidence on both sides of the table, 哪些对潜在买家有重大价值.

交易中业务价值的贬低者

管理团队薄弱

As much of an asset as the right 管理 can be when it comes time to sell your business, 薄弱的管理也可能是一个强有力的不利因素. “同样(强大的管理团队的积极影响), it could detract by a multiple or two of EBITDA versus kind of your typical market valuation,迈克说.

在这种情况下, 'weak' does not necessarily mean 'underperforming' or 'bad at their jobs'; Mike says it is more about "the ability of 管理 to effectively own [the] financials" for whatever reason.

迈克是这样说的:“如果有, 假设, a sole individual owner that is running the business day to day and doesn't want to be involved post transaction, that just limits and narrows the potential pool of investors or 买家.经验丰富的M&一个顾问 knows how to help build out financial models from historical data to inform forward-looking projections and budgets – "and at the end of the day, 管理团队必须控制这一点,迈克说. "The CFO needs to … be able to articulate why certain things happen in certain months, 不管是有利的还是不利的."

客户集中度高

"Businesses with significant customer concentration inherently possess more risk and therefore usually trade at lower valuations, 在其他条件相同的情况下,迈克说. Sellers with high customer concentration can mitigate this factor by highlighting long-standing relationships with their key customers. 这可以通过从这些客户那里获得强有力的评论来实现, 发布盲测, or performing third-party market studies to emphasize the great relationship between your company and its key customers.

发音是关键

不管你的财务状况有多好, 管理, 或者是客户基础, your credentials are not worth much if you cannot articulate your business's value enhancers to potential 买家. 这就是M&一个顾问进来了.

“我们花了大量的时间与客户打交道, trying to build what a roadmap looks like in terms of organic growth and M&A，”迈克说. "Private equity funds and family offices have been more and more focused on trying to find new platforms … that they can use to then go out and acquire other smaller businesses ... I think that can add a tremendous amount of value" – but only if it is properly showcased.

以M开头&一个顾问, 交易过程可以帮助你呈现干净, 真实的, 证明你公司价值的案例.