A buyer was interested in a building products manufacturer that did $70 million a year in sales. Although the business was profitable, it seemed that their margins were lower than they should have been for this industry. The buyer asked…
There once was a family-owned bakery that had sales in the millions. The bakery sold bread to restaurants, supermarkets and some retail outlets. The founder gave each of his 5 children 20 percent ownership of the business. The kids really…
Much has been written about “fairness opinions” due to the financial manipulations among companies such as Enron, Tyco and others. The conflict in the use of fairness opinions was (and is) that an investment banking firm not only handled the…
This is just a partial list: Church’s Chicken, Uno Chicago Grill, Charlie Brown’s, Domino’s Pizza, Burger King, Cinnabon, Sizzler. The first response would be that they are all in the food business, and that’s correct. Now name the second thing…
If Starbucks raised the price of a cappuccino, sales most likely would not be affected. If your attorney raised his or her hourly rate, would you switch law firms? If a company or service firm does not have pricing power,…
A recent article in INC magazine titled”Street Smarts,” by Norm Brodsky (his column is worth the price of the magazine) addressed the subject of the title above. However, in the very first paragraph of the article, Mr. Brodsky stated, “Unfortunately,…
Does your business have an orphan product or service that is doing okay, but doesn’t seem to fit into your core business? Many companies, private equity groups and even some individual buyers are seeking product lines to augment existing ones,…
Companies can be in trouble or headed for it for many reasons. However, most of them can be linked to one or more of the following: • Lack of proper focus • Poor management • Poor financial controls • Loss of key employee(s) • Loss…
Valuation of private companies is much more subjective than public companies because there is no free trading marketplace for the private companies’ stock. Just like a champion Olympic figure skater, the performance has to be flawless. Take a look at…