Market Insights

Navigating Escrow and Earnest Money in Business Transactions

While both escrow and earnest money are cornerstones of a secure business transaction, they serve different purposes. We go through some key considerations in this post.

What is a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM)?

A CIM is a comprehensive document that provides potential buyers with detailed information about the business being sold. In this blog post, we'll explore what a CIM is, why it is important, and what it typically includes.

Definition of Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is a critical metric that every business owner needs to understand. In this blog post, we explore the definition of COGS, why it matters, how to calculate it, and its impact on the financial health and sale of a small business.

Defining & Explaining Sellers Discretionary Earnings (SDE)

If you're a small business owner, understanding your company's financial performance is essential. However, assessing your business's value is not as simple as looking at revenue or net income—that's where Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) comes in.

What is the definition of EBITDA?

Understanding EBITDA is crucial for small business owners and entrepreneurs when it comes to evaluating the financial health of a business. This blog post breaks down what EBITDA is, how it's calculated, and why it's such an important business metric.

Alternatives to BizBuySell

BizBuySell is the most well-known site for sourcing small business deals, but it isn't the only option out there. We'll go through alternatives to "BBS" and where they site in the landscape of small business brokerages and listing sites.

Retirement Plans for Small Businesses: SEP vs. SIMPLE

Small business owners often face a variety of challenges when it comes to offering retirement benefits to their employees and planning for their own retirement. This post outlines the two most common retirement plans we see.

How to Transition a Business to a New Owner

Transition plans are crucial for ensuring a successful transition from one owner to the next. This post covers best practices for defining a good transition plan.

Transition Periods in a Small Business Acquisition

Almost all business acquisitions include a transition period. This post details the purpose of transition plans, their structure and compensation, and more.

Buy or Sell a Houston Small Business

Houston has a well-earned reputation as the home base for massive operations in energy, aerospace, and shipping. We're dedicated to making Houston a hub of small business activity as well.

How to Value a Cleaning Business

Understand the how the value of a residential or commercial cleaning business is calculated, the factors that impact the valuation and how to analyze the health of a cleaning business as a seller or buyer.

How to Value an Auto Repair Shop

Understand the how the value of an auto shop is calculated, the factors that impact the valuation and how to analyze the business health of a shop as a seller or buyer.

Non-solicits: What are they and why are they important in a small business acquisition?

Non-solicits are important to understand in the context of a small business deal. This contract helps protect the goodwill value of the business being acquired.

Best Practices for Announcing the Sale of a Business

Announcing the sale of a business is a critical part of the transition of ownership. If done correctly, the new owner will hit the ground running.

What an SBA Loan means for Seller Financing

SBA loans and seller notes are almost always used in conjunction. We'll break down the different types of Main Street financing and how they relate to each other in the purchase of a business.

Debt-service coverage ratios and why they matter to your business sale

We demystify debt-service coverage ratios so you understand how lenders think about the metric and what that means to you as a buyer.

Owner's Draws: What they are and how they impact the value of a business

Everything you need to know about owner's draws. What they are, how they compare to other forms of compensation, and how they impact the valuation of a business.

Why You Need a Business Sale Escrow When Closing Deals

What business sale escrow entails, how the escrow process works during a business sale, why you should consider escrow for your business sale, where to get business sale escrow services.

Pros and Cons of Rollover Equity in a Business Sale

Rollover equity is what business sellers will sometimes use to stay involved post-sale, requiring sellers to remain invested in the company via equity shares.

What a Non-Compete Covenant Means For Your Business Sale

What a non-compete covenant entails, what to expect from non-compete agreements, and the factors that business sellers should prioritize when negotiating non-compete clauses.

How To Value a Landscaping Business

Understand the steps you should take before you start buying or selling a landscaping business in order to maximize your valuation (as a seller) or avoid overpaying (as a buyer).

Seller Financing: Why is it required? What are the common terms?

Seller financing is almost always part of small business acquisitions. Understand why that is as well as the common terms associated with it.

Business Broker Fees: How Much Are They, And Who Pays?

When you want to sell or buy your business, you want the best value possible. As a seller, you want the highest selling price, and as a buyer, you look for the lowest price. Business brokers help you achieve the best value possible.

A Survey of Business-for-sale Sites

Starting with BizBuySell in the mid 90s, there has been an explosion of business-for-sale websites. This article surveys the options out there based on their functionality, number of listings, price and monthly traffic.

The Role of Community Development Financial Institutions

When looking for small business loans, owners may come across Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). These institutions are dedicated to helping increase access to financing in underserved communities.

The Business Broker Landscape

Business brokers have formed a crucial part of the SMB ecosystem for decades. They’ve served the role of educator, negotiator, and shepherd to hundreds of thousands of business sellers and buyers.

Understanding Seller's Discretionary Earnings

A common metric used to value small businesses is seller’s discretionary earnings, often abbreviated as SDE. This metric is a calculation of how much cashflow a business generates.