What is Your Business Really Worth?

If you own a business, at some point you’ll need to know what it’s worth: whether for estate planning, a significant life change, or potential sale. Without expert guidance in how a business is valued accurately, it can lead to pitfalls that might not only skew your expectations but could also be financially detrimental.

Common Pitfalls in Valuing Your Business

• Relying Solely on Your CPA: While your accountant is invaluable when it comes to handling payroll, financial reporting, and taxes, business valuations are a specialized field. Different businesses need different valuation methods that are often overlooked by non-specialists. A valuation expert brings a deep understanding of the process, market dynamics, and access to comprehensive data on comparable sales, ensuring accurate valuations.
• Misleading Comparisons: We’ve all seen the articles about an unexpected business selling for millions of dollars. These articles often highlight exceptional cases (that’s why they make the news) so you can’t expect every business in that industry will sell for a similar amount. These transactions are what we call outliers and should not set expectations for the value of your business. A valuation expert can spot the difference between a good comparable and a bad one.
• Anecdotal Evidence from Peers: There are many factors that impact the value of a business: financial health, market position, client concentration, and operational structure to name a few. Just because someone knows someone who sold a business like yours doesn’t mean that business’s value will be the same as yours. You can’t base your business’s worth on hearsay or the sale prices of seemingly similar businesses. That just leads to erroneous conclusions and a potentially inflated value.
• Lack of Objectivity: No one knows more than a business owner (and their family) what it takes to own and run a business. You’ve poured everything you have into growing it and the emotional attachment is real. But that attachment and rose-colored glasses can lead to overvaluing the business and unrealistic expectations. Using an unbiased, third-party person to value your business removes that emotional component.

The Right Approach to Business Valuation

Whether your purpose for valuing is to sell, financial planning, partner buyout, or litigation (such as a divorce), using a certified valuation professional is essential. Undervaluation can result in financial loss, whereas an overvaluation leads to a business that doesn’t sell. By working with someone who knows how a business is truly valued and can provide you with an accurate valuation that is defensible (should you need that) you’ll avoid costly mistakes and have clarity so that you can make better financial decisions.

If you need a valuation for any reason, give us a call at 678-988-1495 for a confidential conversation. We value our role as a trusted advisor and we’re here to support you through this complex process.