Category: Economic Trends

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January 19, 2010

Succession Planning – Do You Need it?

By Joseph Eneldas

One 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 divorce, premature death, premature disability and retirement….

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January 7, 2010

Start-Ups Will Keep Struggling in 2010

By Joseph Eneldas

The 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 family or friends to fund their ventures, but…

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November 11, 2009

Small-Business Myths Busted

By Joseph Eneldas

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 their own…

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October 13, 2009

SBA Loan Development

By Joseph Eneldas

The 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 2007. The loan volume reflects…

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October 6, 2009

Find the Right Company

By Joseph Eneldas

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 trend even further enhanced by…

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September 17, 2009

Plumbing for Joy? Be Your Own Boss

By Joseph Eneldas

By economic yardsticks, Roger the Plumber should be feeling pretty low. Roger Peugeot, owner of the 14-employee Overland Park, Kan., plumbing company that bears his name, is part of a sector hit hard by shrunken credit and slumping sales. He has been forced to reduce staff and is battling new competition from other plumbers fleeing…

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September 9, 2009

What Is An Investor To Do Now?

By Joseph Eneldas

What is the investor to do now? With record amounts of cash on the sidelines, debt yields at history lows and gold hitting new highs, many potential investors/business buyers are questioning where the economy will be heading from here and what is the best time to acquire a business. Whereas we would never claim to…

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August 11, 2009

Distressed Takeovers Soar

By Joseph Eneldas

The brutal recession is opening up the landscape to vulture investors as never before. New data show that distressed-debt deals — in which creditors use their debt positions to seize ownership of troubled companies — are running close to double the pace of 2008. Some 140 of the deals have been struck during 2009, compared…

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July 24, 2009

Warning! Business Sellers Are Liars

By Joseph Eneldas

“Business Seller Retiring – Priced to Move” While searching for an existing small business to buy, the novice entrepreneur will come across a few deals that seem almost too good to be true. There are times when a family situation or a dodgy medical condition may require a quick sale at a below-market price, but…