Rapid, unexpected disruption!
New AI phenomenon ChatGPT has the potential to be a big disruptor. For business owners, it highlights just how the best laid plans can come undone, and there is no perfect time to sell.
Author: Michael McGrath
How to Sell a Business Lesson #6: How to sell a business when you’re not making a profit?
Businesses in Australia make an average profit of just under 10% of turnover. However, 20% of businesses in Australia don’t make any profit, that’s about 200,000 companies! In Lesson #6 we address the very real question facing those owners who are not making any profit, is my business worth anything?
Five thoughts to stimulate your thinking going into 2023!
As we contemplate a new year, we wanted to share with you some of the more practical reoccurring themes that Oasis has encountered while completing over 500 business sales. While I would hope that most of these you have already heard about in one form or another, I am reminded that repetition is the mother of skill.
How to Sell a Business Lesson #5: Does the Size of my Business Matter to Buyers?
Following on from “How to go about Finding the Right Buyer for my Business” we turn to the subject of size! Does it matter?
Size is one part of a buyer’s criteria; the short answer is that it depends on what they are looking for.
How to Sell a Business Lesson #4: How to find a needle in a haystack?
Having established that the odds are not great; that the potential buyer that knocks on a seller’s door is the most strategic acquirer for the business (Lesson #1). And that in any event, getting in the ring with a large corporate, without a clear strategy and some input is not optimal (Lesson #2). The question then becomes, if there are many more sellers than buyers in the Australian market in the next decade (Lesson #3), how do you find genuine strategic interest?
Current M&A Market Insights in Australia
The market is fluid and is moving constantly, never more so than now. The big end of town appears busy with deals galore, to quote James Thomson in the AFR on August 26th “M&A is back in a big way.”
How to Sell a Business Lesson #3: How big is the market for my business?
We established in lesson #2 that if a business is approached by a potential buyer (Gorilla) that the interest must be qualified and handled efficiently leading to an early indicative offer in writing, based upon the provision of adequate but limited information. We also determined that such a buyer, having knocked on your door is likely to have knocked on quite a few other doors, and is probably running a broader process.
How to Sell a Business Lesson #2: What to do when a 500-pound gorilla knocks on your door?
We established in my last blog that selling your business is likely to involve a major mismatch in terms of the scale and size of the likely buyer and that getting in the ring with them by yourself and without a clear strategy might not work out so well.
How to Sell a Business Lesson #1: Don’t get in the ring with a 500-pound gorilla!
The shareholders of established private companies in Australia, many of whom will be seeking an exit in the next ten years, ought to be aware of certain realities around deal doing and the market, I am going to unpack some of these over the next series of posts, which I hope people might find helpful.
Transaction activity softens but outlook remains strong
According to the recent Dealmakers report the global trend in M&A is down, by number of deals -15% and by value -18%. This is driven by the “fears of recession, rising interest rates and geopolitical uncertainties.”
There’s always something!
M&A Forecast: Some Light Cloud, Sunny Tomorrow
I’m sure everyone has felt it – that gentle squeeze on our purses and wallets. Whether it is at the supermarket or the petrol pump, the café or the corner store, inflation seems to be hitting our hip-pocket nerve once more.
Valuations for tech start-ups have fallen. Why? and What does it mean?
Valuations for tech start-ups have fallen. Why? What does it mean?
Five months ago, the market sell-off smashed valuations in the tech. sector. Angel funds felt the brunt of the lower valuations and lower multiples. Many start-ups have lost out.
What price would you put on working from home?
There's a “burgeoning body of evidence” that social media harms young people’s mental health and continuing to use it unjustifiable.
This issue affects us all – what is reasonable usage and how much is too much?
Is the unstable geopolitical environment effecting valuations and deal-doing in Australia?
I have been asked this question by owners quite a lot recently.
The short answer is not yet, or at least not directly.
Hybrid work, good or bad for business?
Companies are concerned about the implication of a hybrid working policy on productivity levels, loyalty, team-cohesion, and longevity.
The burning questions are:
Should work-from-home continue post-pandemic?
If so, on what basis?
Is hybrid work good or bad for business?