Entries by Apex Business Advisors

Estate Planning Disaster

The following is a true-life horror story played out by recently deceased actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman. If you are a business owner, know a business owner, have some money in a bank account, and/or dislike paying taxes, please read on. Melissa Montgomery-Fitzsimmons recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal about actor Seymour Hoffman’s lack of […]

2014 Trends are Great

The first six months of 2014 have been very active for acquisitions and we anticipate the next six months of the year to be especially strong. Businesses that weathered the economic downturn of 2008 through 2011 are really showing strong trends now. They beat out weaker competition during those years, improved their productivity and cost […]

Selling Your Business without an Intermediary: A Cautionary Tale

Recently, when a buyer handed us his financial statement along with his completed nondisclosure agreement, we realized that he was severely undercapitalized.   Even if we considered the backing promised by his father-in-law he would hardly be eligible to acquire a business bigger than a lemonade stand. Surprisingly the same buyer described extensive conversations he’d had […]

Market Timing: The Big Picture

Economic cycles can affect the opportune time to buy or sell a business.  In the last three decades the US has suffered economic downturns in the last 2-3 years of the decade, with recovery stretching into the early part of the next decade. Small businesses have weathered these downturns with varying degrees of success.  Perhaps […]