Article 1: “Five Due Diligence Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them” from the Axial Forum outlines mistakes that are made during the due diligence process and offers tips on how to avoid them. These mistakes include:
- Missed Opportunities
- Pointless Provisions
- Red Flags at the 11th Hour
- Poor Communication
- Leaving Money on the Table
Avoiding these mistakes won’t guarantee success, but can definitely help give an owner the best chance at success. Knowing what to expect and what to avoid can go a long way in the buying process.
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Article 2: “Small Business Owners Are Retiring, And Millennials May Not Fill The Gap On America’s Main Street”, posted on Forbes.com. This article uses the closing of a 235-year-old hardware store to prove a fact: the millennial generation may not be suitable to take over small business ownership like the generations before them. In the case of Elwood Adams Hardware, the current owner couldn’t find a buyer.
Their age may be the driving factor in this unwillingness to take on small business ownership. The article mentions that the prime age period for starting a business is the 40’s. If this is the case, time will tell if millennials are suitable for small business.
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Article 3: “Small Business Transactions Reach Record High As Buyers Shrug Off Amazon Effect” posted on BizBuySell.com studies business transaction data from the third quarter of 2017. As outlined by the report, closed transactions numbered 2,589 in the third quarter, up 24% from the same period last year. This quarter continues the trend of quarter-over-quarter growth in reported transactions going back two years.
Increases in median revenue and cash flow of sold businesses as well as a decrease in the median time to sell a business show a strengthening small business sector and an improving overall market. Read the full report by clicking the link below.
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Article 4: “The Investment Banking Landscape: Different Types of M&A Firms”, posted on Divestopedia.com. This article gives an overview of the different types of M&A firms as well as how they can be useful in different situations. It is important for business owners to know how each type of firm works. The different types of firms include:
- Boutique Investment Firms
- Regional Investment Banks
- Bulge Bracket Investment Banks
- M&A Advisory Firms
- Business Brokerage
It is very important for an owner to understand and explore the options available to them before settling on one.
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Article 5: “Closely-held Businesses Head Toward a Slippery Slope”, posted on BizJournals.com. This article explores a startling truth about small businesses in the United States: around 60 percent of owners will likely retire within the next 10 years. On the surface, this may sound unimportant or irrelevant to the small business world, but almost 70 percent of successions fail. What does this mean for the small business sector?
Within the next 10 years, finding a suitable well-trained successor will be necessary for these 60 percent of retiring owners. Failure is characteristically more common than success post-transition, so finding qualified individuals to take over will be vital to continued small business success in the United States.
Click here to read the full article.