Are you selling your business? Perhaps you are looking to buy a business? In this blog article, we look at the basics of Business Valuations.
If you are selling your business, make sure you do not lose out on all the years of hard work and sleepless nights you have put in by pricing it too low. And if you are buying a business, gain confidence that you are not overpaying for the asset. Knowing how to value your business is crucial to running the company. Learn how to find an accurate value for your business.
- Business valuations determine the overall worth of your company. This figure is especially important to investors and partners.
- Three main approaches are used to determine the worth of a business. These approaches include the Market Approach, Asset Approach, and Income Approach.
- Different strategies are harnessed for business valuations, including stock prices.
Whether you’re looking into buying a business, considering selling your business or describing the value of your business to venture capitalists, knowing how to value your business is crucial to running the company accurately.
Business Valuations Explained
But it is complicated to untangle the various tangible and intangible pieces of your business and know how to compute their value accurately. Business valuations involve using a set of measuring tools to determine the worth of a business. Returns don’t always calculate business valuations.
Companies also use community impact and intangible assets to determine business valuation. Business valuations are needed for various scenarios. For instance, if a partnership is dissolving, business valuation is needed. Investors also typically look for business valuation figures before financing a company.
How do you find an accurate value for your business?
There are many different ways to value a business. Here are just some of the most common methods of business valuations:
The Income Approach
This approach is fairly straightforward; the business is valued based on its ability to generate income for the owners. This is also referred to as the business’s “economic benefit.” Three ways are common for businesses to be valued based on income.
- Discounted Cash Flow. This method considers several factors such as net cash flows, required investments to maintain those cash flows and the business’s long-term potential sale price. Essentially, the business is valued based on the amount of income it can generate over a set period of time.
- Capitalisation of Earnings. For this method, a business’s expected earnings are divided by the capitalisation rate, representing the risk the business owner is taking on by investing in the business. This values the business by considering how likely it is that the business will generate returns over time.
- Multiple of Discretionary Earnings. This method computes the value of the business by considering the discretionary income stream and multiplying it by a variety of factors that represent the owner, business and industry factors.
The Asset Approach
While the income approaches look to value a business’s potential for earnings, the asset approaches place a fair market value on what a business owns. This could be equipment, real estate, patents, or digital accounts such as particular URLs. Anything a company could turn around and sell as-is can generally be considered an asset. There are two common methods of valuing a business by its assets.
- Asset Accumulation Method. For this method, a business compiles a basic spreadsheet and compares all its tangible and intangible assets to all of its liabilities. The difference is considered the value of the company’s assets. Think of this as what money would be left over if a business sold off all of its equipment, intellectual property and physical location.
- Capitalised Excess Earnings Method. This adds together the value of the tangible business assets with the “excess” earnings. The excess earnings are business earnings that do not come from tangible assets.
The Market-Based Business Approach
While the income and asset valuation approach consider what a business is worth by determining its actual earnings, the market-based business approach considers how much the market is likely to pay for a business. There are two main methods of computing this.
- The Comparative Market Transaction Method
- Guideline Publicly Traded Company Method
In both business valuations, companies look at businesses similar to their own and see how many other businesses have sold. This might be particularly useful for a business that expects to trade on its brand or which is considered to have more potential than its balance sheets are likely to show.
Why use all three?
Most businesses use a comprehensive approach to valuations that draws from these areas. The reason for considering valuation is that every business has a different business model. A physical business built around customers coming to a brick-and-mortar store will have a very different valuation process from a business that mostly operates online and has more intangible assets than tangible ones.
CEOs and business owners who can comfortably and easily discuss the difference between their income streams, their asset valuations, and the comparative sale prices of other companies on the market have the best chance of receiving a fair price for their business. Investors will understand that the business owner has a detailed comprehension of the daily operating process of their business, which can provide more trust in the valuation overall.
Additional ways to value a business
There are other ways to determine business valuations. If the company is publicly traded, stock prices reflect the company’s worth. You can also evaluate similar businesses within your geographic area to determine approximate worth. Even if you’re not planning on selling your business any time soon, having a comprehensive valuation of your business is a good idea. When you go to raise capital, whether through investors or small business loans, showing that you have a thorough understanding of the economics of your business will only benefit you.
Need the Services of a Business Valuation Company? Why not contact JTB Consulting and learn how we can help you in your Journey of Selling your Business or Buying another?
