Where is your business going

For the business owner, the business is at the epicenter of their life. Every decision in the business owner’s life is somehow impacted by the business. The division between the business and the business owner often becomes blurred. There is no finishing work at 5PM every day with the luxury of leaving work issues behind until 8AM the next morning. The business owner’s business life impacts every area of their personal life to include their family, friends, free time, finances and future.

A good question is “Where is my business heading?” The answers seem readily available by looking at income statements, balance sheets and tax returns, etc., but this is all about what has happened previously.

Is looking in the rearview mirror the best way to turn a corner?Is looking in the rearview mirror going to help you negotiate oncoming traffic?Would you drive across the country without a roadmap?

Since the business impacts every area of a business owner’s life and most often is the center of their family’s financial infrastructure providing the majority, if not all, of the family’s current and future income, why take a chance on losing business value, creating risk exposure or paying unnecessary taxes, when these areas can be managed through proactive oversight and planning?

Read More Here is more information about valuing a business.

Business owners should STOP solely looking in the rearview mirror and begin to prepare for the future by looking out of the front windshield. A business is essentially alive and constantly changing. An owner can manage the impact this ever-changing business will have on them and their family’s life by preparing for what is coming down the road with two separate documents; a Business Valuation and a Tax Structuring Report. These documents are exceptionally useful for the business owner that wants to sell but they are also important when putting together a well thought out plan for the future direction of the business.

A well thought-out plan can increase and preserve the value of the business. This is true whether the business is ultimately transferred to other family members, employees or to an outside acquirer. Additionally, just as a business is dynamically ever changing, a business value is an active planning tool to guide ongoing decision making. That is, this is not something that is simply developed then placed on a shelf for future reference.

Click this link to see a sample Business Valuation.

If you would like to have a Business Valuation prepared for your business or medical practice, it requires the tax returns of your business for the last 3 years, a current profit and loss statement and balance sheet. With these documents, a Business Valuation can be prepared in about two weeks.

A Business Valuation shows the price of a business or medical practice but does not show how much the business seller gets to keep. This is the benefit of a Tax Structuring Report as it allows a seller to negotiate with a buyer from a position of strength and not weakness. That is, the seller can proactively manage reasonable expectations with the buyer as opposed to having a sale of the business or medical practice crash because they were able to agree on the price and terms of the deal but not the tax consequences.

Read More Here is more information about tax and selling a business.

Regardless of the planning direction chosen, effective family business transition planning with a Business Valuation and a Tax Structuring Report helps a business owner gain greater control over the direction of future destiny of one of his most precious assets, the family business.

Click this link to see a sample tax structuring report.

Keep in mind that ALL businesses do experience a change of ownership at some point in the life of the business whether planned or unplanned.

If you would like more information about selling a business, buying a business, buying a franchise or a related service such as valuing a business, please visit my webpage Services and choose from the drop down menu the information you would like.

For more immediate help to know the value of your business with a 19 page report or tax consequences when selling your business, you are welcome to send an email to Andrew Rogerson or give me a call on 916 570-2674.

The article Where is your business going first appeared on Andrew Rogerson and Rogerson Business Services.