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Be Advised
Most people don’t know where to begin when buying or selling a business. At Murphy Business, we guide clients through the complicated process so that they get to the closing table successfully. Jennifer Smith (formerly Hendrickson) was raised in Springfield, Missouri, and has a bachelor's degree in finance and an MBA from Southeast Missouri State University, along with two graduate degrees in banking from Vanderbilt and LSU. She is also a Board Certified Intermediary (BCI) and a Certified Merger & Acquisition Intermediary (CMAI). In addition to Murphy Business, she also owns Midwest Strategies (formerly Hendrickson Business Advisors) which offers business consulting, coaching, and customized training. Visit these businesses online at murphybusinessofcape.com and midweststrategies.com. Jennifer can be reached at j.smith@murphybusiness.com or at 573.335.1885.
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Retaining Key Employees
Posted Wednesday, February 5, 2020, at 10:56 AMThink about the key employees in your business. The ones who understand how everything works: employee roles, client preferences, supply chain, cash flow, compliance, etc. When they take a well-deserved vacation, you FEEL it and so does everyone else. They might be in sales, support, administration, or leadership and they have institutional knowledge that isn’t easily replaced... -
2020 Forecast
Posted Monday, January 20, 2020, at 11:06 AM2019 is in the books. In general, people are feeling pretty good right now. The S&P 500 was up 28.9% and the Nasdaq was up 35.2%. Unemployment is crazy low at 3.5%, optimism is high, and although there has been lots of turmoil nationally and globally, it has mostly impacted a few specific sectors. ... -
The Importance of Knowing Your Business’s Value
Posted Wednesday, December 18, 2019, at 9:46 AMHow much is your business worth? How much is it actually worth to a buyer if you were to sell it right now? Even if you’re not ready to sell at this moment, knowing this number is very important for a few reasons:... -
Competition
Posted Monday, November 11, 2019, at 2:44 PMNon-competes. You’ve probably been exposed to them at some point. Perhaps you have employees sign them or maybe you have signed one yourself at some point. Non-competes are also a very important component of a business transfer... -
8 Ways to Make Buying a Business Less Scary
Posted Friday, October 18, 2019, at 10:25 AMIn addition to eating a ridiculous amount of candy corn, with Halloween around the corner, we’ve been thinking about all things scary. Here are some things that can make an entrepreneurial leap a little more comfortable. If you’re a business owner looking to sell, take note of these things too as they’ll be important when it’s time to prepare your business for sale... -
Discounted Cash Flow
Posted Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 12:28 PMIn an academic setting, a discounted cash flow model sounds like a completely reasonable form of valuing a business. You project out the anticipated cash flows for 5-10 years, use a discount rate and look at what those future cash flows are in present day dollars... -
Knowledge is Power
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2019, at 2:52 PMSelling a business shouldn’t be a mysterious process done behind a black curtain and only understood by a select few. The more you understand how your business is valued, how to make it more attractive, and how the selling process works, the better equipped you will be. That’s why we regularly conduct workshops and webinars to help educate our clients. We want them to have a good experience and that’s hard to do if they’re in the dark... -
Value Your Business
Posted Thursday, January 18, 2018, at 2:52 PMWhile your accountant is working feverishly to get your 1099s and W2s out, it’s a good time to think about using your up-to-date year end financials to have a business valuation done... -
Don’t be a lame-duck business owner.
Posted Monday, August 28, 2017, at 1:07 PMIn politics, the lame duck refers to an office holder who knows he is leaving office but hasn’t been replaced yet. Not thinking long-term, he neglects his duties and leaves a bit of a mess for his replacement. It can also happen when a business owner decides to sell... -
It's Valuation Time!
Posted Friday, March 24, 2017, at 4:19 PMSeriously. If your business operates on a calendar year then you’ve just filed or are close to filing your taxes – and your financial numbers are fresh. Those numbers are part of what we use to calculate a Broker Opinion of Value (BOV)... -
Pedal to the Metal
Posted Tuesday, September 20, 2016, at 10:02 AMRunning a business can be tiring. Wait. Scratch that. Running a business IS tiring - even exhausting sometimes. We also know that when you’ve done it for several decades it can be difficult to find the energy to keep your business growing. We often hear from business owners who are ready to sell because they want to retire and enjoy life. ... -
Use Retirement Funds to Buy a Business
Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2016, at 10:57 AMIt’s a common situation: You have been doing a good job of saving for retirement and so there’s a considerable amount that’s accumulated in your retirement accounts…but you don’t have a boatload of liquid money just sitting around in a checking or savings account. ... -
Seasonal Businesses
Posted Monday, July 18, 2016, at 5:21 PMSeasonal businesses come in all shapes and sizes. A snow cone truck will thrive when the weather’s hot and won’t generate a profit when it’s cold out – there’s just not enough demand for snow cones when there’s snow everywhere. ... -
Unsellable Businesses
Posted Friday, May 13, 2016, at 2:15 PMAfter nearly two decades of real estate/fixer-upper/curb appeal/garage sale picker reality television, it’s easy to think that there’s a buyer for everything. That may be true – just not at every price and certainly not at any time. ... -
The Right Person for the Job
Posted Friday, April 15, 2016, at 8:45 AMYou wouldn't expect an oral surgeon to perform a successful open heart surgery. Sure, she's a licensed physician trained in surgery and all the latest surgical techniques but she doesn't know the heart as well as does a cardiovascular surgeon. ... -
The Rhythm of the Deal
Posted Monday, April 4, 2016, at 10:31 AMSo much in our lives follows a natural rhythm – breathing, heart beating, asleep/awake, the rising and setting of the sun, the ocean tides, music. These rhythms are comforting – necessary even. They help us keep track of time. Occasionally they go completely wrong: We get short of breath, our hearts race or skip beats, we can’t sleep, there’s daylight saving time and tsunami and we can’t dance any more. These breaks in the rhythms are awful and sometimes deadly... -
Reflections and Predictions
Posted Monday, January 18, 2016, at 11:05 AMHappy New Year! We thought it might be fun to take a look at what happened related to merger and acquisition transactions in 2015 and make a few predictions as to what you might expect in the coming year. 2015 Reflections: Buyers were optimistic about the health and viability of businesses and valuations reflected that. ... -
Reduce Your Risk
Posted Wednesday, November 18, 2015, at 12:11 PMAccording to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. Scary. You can greatly reduce your risk of failure (or increase your likelihood of success) by buying an existing business. They have cash flow from day one, clients already in place, and a proven business model. But how do you go about doing that? We're so glad you asked!... -
Penny Wise and Pound Foolish
Posted Monday, October 12, 2015, at 12:39 PMIt's an English idiom that means someone is so careful about the small matters (pennies) that they become careless with the big ones (pounds.) Sometimes when an owner is selling their business, they try to win every little point in negotiations with the buyer and it ends up costing them the big ones... -
Let It Go
Posted Wednesday, September 16, 2015, at 10:42 AMHave you ever sold a house and then driven by to see what the new owners decided to do with it? I have. Sometimes the new owners take good care of what was once ours, and sometimes they totally trash it. It's easy to become disappointed and even angered when someone doesn't take care of our own hard work, but it's theirs to do with as they please. They bought it. They own it...
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