News

If You’re Selling Your Business in 2010 Pent-up demand could bring owners of healthy small and midsized businesses favorable valuations this year

From Business Week: There are eager buyers for small and midsized companies whose owners have powered through the recession and expect to see demand rebound this year. That’s according to Bill Roman, the managing director of the Boston office of Harris Williams, which advises middle-market companies on mergers and acquisitions and focuses on sales in the $25 million-to-$1 billion range. While business sales fell dramatically in 2009, Roman says Harris Williams is seeing deals pick up in 2010. With few business assets in supply and high buyer demand, valuations for high-quality companies have held surprisingly steady, he tells Smart Answers … Read more

Who Do You NOT Want to Sell Your Business To?

One of the conversations we have with new clients or potential clients early on is to discuss the range of likely buyers for their business.  We ask them for their insight and it is usually very helpful.  We talk about all of the kinds of potential buyers – competitors, suppliers, customers, national companies, companies serving a neighboring geographic area and so forth.  Oftentimes, this conversation leads to who they do not want to sell their business to.  I find this to be a very interesting topic. Why would someone trying to sell his or her business rule out a qualified … Read more

SBA Stimulus Funds Running Out Again

WASHINGTON – SBA issued the following statement today from Administrator Karen Mills regarding efforts to ensure continued funding for two key provisions in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009: “SBA’s most popular ARRA provisions – the increased guarantee and reduced fees in the two largest lending programs – have helped engineer a significant turnaround in SBA lending. Continuing those ARRA provisions is SBA’s top priority. Through the original $375 million and the additional $125 million appropriations for these two provisions, SBA has supported more than $20 billion in lending to small businesses across the country and seen … Read more

This Green Business May Blossom Soon

From the Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg.com The Leyland cypress trees outside Diane and Ted Clark’s Fredericksburg home provided a nice privacy fence. But the trees proved no match for the Feb. 5-6 storm, the second one this winter that dumped more than a foot of snow on the region. The storm knocked down at least six of the Clarks’ cypress trees in addition to some big branches at their Dandridge Street home. The privacy fence is no more. “They just all came down,” Diane Clark said. “We have a clear vision now.” The Clarks will be calling in professional … Read more

Entrepreneurs turn to 401(k)s to fund businesses

From USA Today Read it all here. Don Poffenroth paged through a magazine on a flight several years ago when an article grabbed his attention: Entrepreneurs could use 401(k) savings to start a business without getting hit by taxes and early-withdrawal penalties. He and a partner had drawn up plans for a gin, vodka and whiskey distillery in Spokane, Wash., but they struggled with the best funding options. “Neither of us was rich,” he says. “We didn’t want to have to sell shares in the company to start with. But we both had long corporate careers, and so our 401(k) … Read more