COVID-19’s Impact on Micro and Small Business Valuation As summer comes to an end, while COVID-19 remains a concern, business owners have resumed contemplating their succession and growth strategies. What have valuation analysts learned? In this article, the author shares additional questions that business valuation practitioners should be asking. The hysteria from the huge unforeseen social and economic ch ...

Speaking Our Client’s Language How many times have readers started reading an e-mail from a colleague or peer with questions on a valuation you performed and been simply lost as to why they are asking? As you re-read the e-mail time and time again, you cannot understand where their questions are coming from. You feel confused, frustrated, and lost. In this article, the author proposes that we reflect on the ...

Conducting Financial Due Diligence and Quality of Earnings Analysis Financial due diligence and quality of earnings reports provide a third-party analysis of a target company’s current financial position and historical financial performance. When evaluating a potential business acquisition, it is crucial to understand the nature and magnitude of the business’ cash flows. Whether from the perspective of the ...

Quantifying the Lost Opportunity of Being First (Generic Entrant) to Market The authors in this article explore the scale of first mover advantage in generic pharmaceuticals and the methods behind quantifying the value of being first generic to market, or the loss when being prevented from doing so. They discuss, how much is it worth to be the first generic entrant to the market? Introduction The recent Eur ...

For When a Client Wants to Buy a Business The authors in this article share a checklist developed and provided to firm clients contemplating buying a business. The following are key steps involved when a client wants to buy a business. Buyers and their advisors can use this list as a timeline and road map of the steps that are expected to occur, and what they should plan on doing. A companion posting for cl ...

the Cost of Your Reference Library? Now, there is an abundance of print and online resources that have greatly improved both our report preparation efficiency and effectiveness. Simply put, we have access to better information and are more productive in our engagements. Certainly, clients benefit from that increased access and productivity, but it comes at our ever-growing out-of-pocket library expense. So ...

The Future is Here This article describes the background, concepts behind, and implications of blockchain technology deployment for commercial, governmental, and personal use. QuickRead readers are aware of proposals to move entirely away from cash (bills and coins) for daily transactions. Such a move is expected to create a major inconvenience for those without access to credit cards and basic banking ...

Five Ways Professional Services Websites Fall Short (Part I of II) Business leaders today know that how a firm’s website is planned and organized matters more than ever. What worked well enough five years ago to separate your firm from your competition may simply not work today. At Hinge, we audit hundreds of professional services websites a year—and we see many of the same mistakes repeated. In this articl ...

to Business Valuation for Attorneys Investors who hold publicly traded securities have the luxury of knowing the value of their investment at virtually any time. An internet connection and a few clicks of a mouse are all it takes to get an up-to-date stock quote. Of all U.S. companies, however, less than 1 percent are publicly traded, meaning that most companies are privately held. Investors in privately he ...

Expert Assignments and the Impact of COVID-19 COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the global economy. As the economic crisis deepened, the Wall Street Journal reported, “The nation’s bankruptcy industry is bracing for a wave of business collapses triggered by the coronavirus pandemic as its ranks have been thinned by a decade of economic growth.” Working on business bankruptcy assignments in 2020 will pre ...

Popular Plans to Incentivize and Retain Talent Employees and executives can get added compensation in addition to their salaries. In some cases, these benefits could exceed the salary. Most of these benefits are contractual and, where there is a discretionary element, it is usually awarded by the board of directors. This article provides a round up listing of the more popular benefits. Not included are stan ...

Highlights of the New Bankruptcy Chapter: Chapter 5 Many small businesses could not afford the processes in place under Chapter 11. The SRBA, signed into law in August 2019, created Chapter 5 and was intended to provide a “fresh start” to small business owners. This article highlights some of the key issues under the new law. On August 23, 2019, a relatively small, 22-page bill known as the Small Business R ...

with “Pinkcast” Daniel H. Pink is author of six provocative works about business and human behavior. His website contains videos and newsletters. In this article, Rod Burkert describes how Pinkcast changed the way he marketed, and provides six reasons why BVFLS professionals may want to consider Pinkcast as a resource. Do you struggle putting pen to paper … figuring out what to say in a 300–900-word dispatc ...

Highlights the “Good” and “Bad” Hindsight Debate Many predictions are doomed to fail whereas hindsight is undefeated. Predicting the future is very difficult due to the countless permutations that can occur. By contrast, anyone can observe what happened after the fact. Not surprisingly, it can be tempting to focus on the reliability of hindsight over the (typically) more relevant contemporaneous projections ...

to Convert Leads into New Business In this post, Dr. Frederiksen shares some thoughts on ways to use virtual marketing to increase visibility, communicate your expertise, and build engagement with prospects. In the age of COVID-19, these marketing techniques are essential to a firm’s survival. In my most recent post, I explained some key advantages of virtual marketing over more traditional approaches. In t ...

Time to Revisit this Tool If you think Monte Carlo simulations are too complex to use in business valuation, you are not alone. There are three main reasons valuators shy away from using Monte Carlo analysis: 1) they do not totally understand it, 2) it involves statistical analysis and most would prefer not to relive their college statistics class, and 3) it is difficult to explain, especially to a jury. A ...

Avoiding Trademark Infringement Sometimes you need to use your competitors' trademarks to sell your products or services. This is particularly true when you are selling, for example, replacement parts, and need to say that your replacements are compatible with the trademark owners’ products. It can also be important when providing services such as repair. If you repair BMW automobiles, you need to let other ...

and its Impact on Lost Profits Calculations These are challenging times. Financial experts are faced with economic uncertainty and differing projections from various sources as to what the “new normal” will look like. Regardless of the economic circumstances, financial experts are hired to estimate lost profits. These calculations must be made with reasonable certainty. But to be reasonably certain, proxima ...

Personal Damages Calculations and Exposure to COVID-19 Financial experts who, in the past, have been reluctant to take on personal injury economic damages as part of their practice should reconsider that decision today. Not only is the field growing and on the verge of a potentially huge boom driven by the COVID-19 crisis, there are plenty of resources to help you quickly get up to speed performing these ty ...

In a SPAC Merger Transaction The fair value of equity consideration issued in a merger involving a public company is generally calculated as the product of the quoted price for the individual equity instrument times the quantity issued (commonly referred to a “P times Q”). However, if the merger involves a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), determining “P” can be subjective and may result in differ ...