Rules of Thumb to Value a BusinessPublished May 9, 2011 | By Achim Neumann, President Quite often, we are asked during presentations which ‘multiple’ is the right one with which to assess the value of a business. Without doubt, most business owners then volunteer that the EBITDA multiple (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, Amortization) is the best single criteria. H... [read more]
Small Business Recovery Act Difficult to QuantifyPublished March 8, 2011 | By Achim Neumann, President The 2009 tax breaks President Barack Obama signed into law should have bolstered many small businesses. Instead two years later, there is still confusion, and according to many, underutilized opportunities. Most small businesses agree that the Recovery Act’s impact is difficult to quantify. While... [read more]
New Small-Business Tax ProposalPublished February 10, 2011 | By Achim Neumann, President On Monday, the White House announced several small-business initiatives, including an extension of the permanent capital-gains tax relief for small company investors. The White House will also announce the creation of a new, private organization called Startup America, aimed at getting private co... [read more]
New Jersey Small Business Transactions Are Still at a Low Volume LevelPublished November 5, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, President PRESS RELEASE Atlantic Highlands, NJ, November 5, 2010 – A Neumann & Associates, a ten-year-old NJ business broker and business valuation firm has announced that they are seeing small business transactions at a low volume level for the second year in a row. A significant indicator of... [read more]
Mergers are back in stylePublished August 6, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, President In New Jersey mergers and acquisitions are on the upswing in 2010 and more deals are being completed as the economy shows stability. I was quoted in a recent NJ Biz article that discusses this trend. Below is an excerpt from the write-up. The complete article can be read here. Excerpt from NJ Biz a... [read more]
What Defines A Successful Entrepreneur?Published July 13, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, President Today, we would like to briefly touch upon a common question we are often confronted with by (mostly) first-time business buyers: what makes a successful entrepreneur – or more importantly, will I succeed in the business I am about to purchase? There is a significant number of articles, blogs and... [read more]
Small Company Sales To A Large CustomerPublished July 1, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, President Whereas most entrepreneurs love the idea of being able to sell to a large company and admire the stability of consistent sales and cash flow, the reality is that developing such a relationship is lengthy and faces many challenges. Most importantly, if your company’s service or product is not uniq... [read more]
Does A Business Transfer To Children Make Sense?Published June 4, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, President When the ownership of a business is transferred by its owner, who is often also the founder, several pitfalls need to be avoided to make the transfer successful. Approximately fifty percent of all business owners will sell their business in the next fifteen years, as recent statistics tell us. Only... [read more]
A Good Start Into 2010Published May 11, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, President We have seen a significant uptick in recent weeks in activities, from buy and sell side. This is most strongly reflected by a significant increase in buyer inquiries. However, the sell side, too, has shown more readiness and several business owners expressed their desire to sell. But whereas in the... [read more]
As business recovers, does your company plan to rehire back to the staffing level it was at before the recession?Published April 13, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, President Throughout the recession, many entrepreneurs trimmed their payrolls, among other big expenses. There have been tentative moves by some larger companies to rescind salary cuts for remaining employees, but few are rehiring the workers they cut. Private-sector firms in the U.S. eliminated 22,000 jobs ... [read more]
Small Businesses Slightly More OptimisticPublished March 2, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, PresidentSmall businesses grew slightly more optimistic last month, though they are still climbing out of a funk brought on by a credit crunch and a severe recession. Index Inches Up The Index of Small Business Optimism, released Tuesday by the National Federation of Independent Business, rose 1.3 points to ... [read more]
Succession Planning – Do You Need it?Published January 19, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, PresidentOne of the most common questions I receive as a small business advisor is how to properly prepare your business for succession. Succession planning refers to planning to hand off your business to another party. Common reasons for succession planning can include a business sale, a business partner di... [read more]
Start-Ups Will Keep Struggling in 2010Published January 7, 2010 | By Achim Neumann, PresidentThe economic downturn has dimmed many entrepreneurs’ hopes of opening a small business, as sources of funding have dwindled or dried up completely. And while many hope 2010 will be better, the outlook continues to be bleak. The majority of entrepreneurs use personal savings or contributions from f... [read more]
Small-Business Myths BustedPublished November 11, 2009 | By Achim Neumann, President So many aspiring entrepreneurs dream of the numerous rewards that await them when they finally break free of the shackles of the rat race and become their own boss. But many see only the gold at the end of the rainbow–and go into it with misconceptions about what’s it’s really like to own the... [read more]
SBA Loan DevelopmentPublished October 13, 2009 | By Achim Neumann, PresidentThe Small Business Administration ended its 2009 fiscal year on Wednesday, marking the close of a tumultuous year of lending initiatives to keep banks’ doors open. Despite the efforts to revive the credit market, the SBA approved less than 45,000 loans, down 36% compared to last year and 56% from ... [read more]
Find the Right CompanyPublished October 6, 2009 | By Achim Neumann, President As briefly mentioned in our last newsletter, we have noticed a significant amount of “cash” sitting on the sidelines – buyers, who are ready to move due to the dissatisfactory investment returns obtained in this market. After all, what does a treasury bill really yield these days? We see this... [read more]