Archive for category: General

Apex Business Advisors is excited to announce the addition of Valerie Vaughn to our professional team.  Valerie brings over twenty years of business success with technology industry leaders Hewlett-Packard and IBM, and more recently with smaller organizations.

After completing her doctorate in Chemistry, Valerie moved to Kansas City to join Marion Laboratories as a senior research scientist. After several years with Marion, she transitioned to HP as a pre-sales consultant and there she began to understand the tremendous value that a sales professional could bring to clients. Her increasing interest in sales and business led Valerie to earn her MBA from Rockhurst University so she could better understand the business challenges her clients faced.

Today Valerie’s passion is understanding the needs of her clients and helping them achieve their long-term goals. She knows the importance of finding a good seller/buyer fit when businesses trade ownership. Both sellers and buyers must win, and feel great about the transaction, or it isn’t a good deal. Her goal is to help both sellers and buyers find that perfect buy/sell fit.

Buyers or sellers seeking counsel about the process with no upfront fees should call Valerie at (913) 433-2315 or reach out via e-mail at .

Please join us in welcoming Valerie to Apex.

Although most of the SBA personnel were considered “non-essential” staff during the recent government shutdown and were forced to take a (taxpayer) paid vacation, anyone needing an SBA backed loan during that time would vehemently disagree that they are non-essential.

All SBA loan processing came to an abrupt halt, which meant any bank financed transactions were put on hold.  AND, that two week shutdown caused a much longer delay in processing these transactions. Two weeks off translates to a month or more of catch up.

It’s another reminder that time can kill deals. There are enough difficulties in getting deals completed without the government “assisting”! (Hopefully our Congress won’t hold things up again in January and February).

If you are involved in buying or selling a business, keep the target closing date in mind and focus on the multiple tasks that need to be completed for the closing. The SBA lenders have been very responsive to getting caught up and are very anxious to get new business on the books, so ask for their help to get your transaction completed.

Keep your Apex Business Advisor involved during the buy/sell process to ensure a smooth transition.

Recent activity in our business is proving very profitable for buyers. They have found gems that others passed on.

Any decent financial advisor will tell you that it is important to keep invested in a down market and even purchase as much as you can when the market is “cheap”. Many people burned by the financial downturn liquidated at the bottom and have recently decided to get back into the market as it was reaching record highs. They missed the opportunity for huge gains!

Similarly, people interested in buying businesses sometimes focus on the recent trends rather than the longer historical story and the opportunity for growth. When businesses show strong trends and are at their peak in profitability, they will garner a higher price. There are many opportunities to find businesses that continued to be successful over the long haul, probably struggled through the recession, but maintained profitability.

However, business owners don’t always have the luxury of hanging on for another couple years to get back to the glory days. Retirement and illness are the two major factors pressing an owner to sell sooner rather than later. This becomes a great opportunity for a buyer.

Sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the perfect deal will cost much more in lost opportunity and higher prices. In the stock market, an investor has almost endless choices and can buy at will. When purchasing a business, there is a very limited inventory and many buyers. If you find a business that piques your interest, this is not the time to sit on the sidelines to see what happens. Entrepreneurs take action!

Talk to your Apex Business Advisor about our current opportunities.

It’s great being part of the entrepreneurial community in Kansas City where there are many great formats for meeting professionals in accounting, law, financial services, etc. One local group had a terrific networking lunch and learn.  If you weren’t able to attend the recent Entrepreneur’s Club meeting at Hereford House, you missed out on listening to and learning from a great business expert,

Tim Sernett, from Virtual Bean Counters. Tim shared with local entrepreneurs some critical aspects of operating a successful business.  His main message: “If you don’t know your numbers you don’t know your business!”.

It makes sense to those of us who see businesses every day that fail to understand their cash flow and how it is impacted by changes in Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory, Debt, etc. From our standpoint, it also makes a huge difference in business value.

Understanding how rapid sales growth and increasing receivables, for example, reduces cash flow will help a business owner prepare for a cash crunch and set them up for success. Updating policies to shorten receivables terms and lengthen payables, knowing optimal inventory levels, preparing a budget, and developing a business plan are some activities that could greatly enhance cash flow.

Talk to one of our Apex Business Advisors to find out cash flow drives business value.

What do sellers want when they sell their business? The best possible price of course (in cash)! The seller wants to be compensated for all their years of hard work developing a strong business. But what is the true value of the business?

The company may have trademarks, patents, and other unique aspects to their business. It may have a well diversified customer base in a growing industry, and have a great management team. The financial statements of the business might be complete and flawless with no seller personal expenses included. The business owner doesn’t have to sell immediately, and the business is hugely profitable. (There are more variables, but this is a start, and this sounds like a terrific business!)

Much like in real estate where the broker takes many variables into consideration to ascertain a value, Business Brokers and M&A Advisors look at many variables to derive a logical market price for a given business. However, variables can change as the process goes on, like seller motivation and revenue trends, so prices can change up or down as well. By the way, a professional third party valuation can be a great tool to determine a price if a seller wants an unbiased review. (See our Blog from April).

Given the above comments, the marketplace allows a seller a certain price for their business – The real value being whatever deal is accepted between a willing buyer and willing seller. Motivation plays a big part in the ultimate price negotiations, as well as supply and demand. By the way, the SBA requires banks to have independent business appraisals performed on business deals over $350,000, so proper pricing is critical.

Just like an overpriced home, a business that is priced too high can languish for a long time on the market and eventually invite negative views as to why it hasn’t sold.

Talk to your Apex Business Advisor to get an honest review of your business and its value.