The purpose of a due diligence period is to allow the Buyer to fully investigate all of the claims, warrants, and representations a Seller has made regarding the status of the company.  Are the financial statements accurate? What protections are in place to lock in key customers, employees, technologies, and other assets upon which the value of the company is based?  What are the internal structural components, processes and […] Continue Reading…

As we closed down 2009 and reflect on the year’s successes and failures, I look towards 2010 with some minimal optimism.  That’s not saying that I had a great year, on the contrary, but more as an acknowledgement that I’m a typical optimistic entrepreneur.  This was a tough year for everyone, maybe not so much for the big banks who received billions of bail out money, but definitely for […] Continue Reading…

I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but the internet has been around now for over 20 years, it’s not going away.  It’s time for the small business owners to embrace it.  The day of the hand held compass will forever be replaced with the GPS.  The good old maps that dried up in our car glove compartments and ripped apart as we tried to unfold them […] Continue Reading…

Simply put, earn outs are when a seller receives additional compensation from the buyer only if pre-determined bench marks are hit in the future by the new owner.  The intent of the buyer is not to hand over all the cash up front at the date of purchase, but for an installment type sale based upon the future successes of the company.The risks, or actually reality more often than not, is that the new […] Continue Reading…

We have a few more weeks left before not only this year is over, but a complete decade.  Wow, think about that for a moment.  From the great start of 2000, when we were coming out of the late 90’s low, until the tough end of 2009, it has been a classic example of a typical business cycle. 
 
What a wild ride it has been.  Any business that has […] Continue Reading…