Author Archive
Mitch Biggs
Mitch Biggs, the Vice President of Brokers for Bluestone Group, is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and an accomplished F-15 fighter pilot. He has over 20 years experience working with and for both public and private companies. His core beliefs of integrity, commitment, community service, personal ownership of three businesses as well as over 10 years with a Fortune 200 company have been instrumental in his ability to lead the brokerage team and deliver exceptional results. Visit my website www.bluestone-group.com for free information on businesses for sale, buyers and sold listings. Check out my Blog
The Greatest Accomplishment of Health Care Reform
March 17th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 173 views
Health care reform
The recent barrage of political posturing over Health Care Reform has been a blessing. Finally, the American people understand how abusive the elected officials have been with our trust. With an administration touting transparency, back room deals and Chicago politics have no place upon the American ideals we were founded.
Disgusting would be an understatement. My idea of an elected official is not for them to say what they think I want to hear and then vote…
Offer to Purchase or Letter of Intent
March 6th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 309 views
Offer or LOI?
Both terms are used to describe an offer made to purchase a business. An over-simplification of the definition of both documents is: An Offer to Purchase is usually written in contract form and defines the price, terms and conditions of the sale, and is usually accompanied by an earnest money deposit. A Letter of Intent (LOI) is usually written in letter form and also defines the price and the terms and conditions…
Posted in business legal, business negotiation, business tips | Tags: business broker, buy business, letter of intent, loi, offer to purchase, sell business | No Comments »
Performing Due Diligence When Buying a Business
February 24th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 300 views
Due diligence
This stage of buying a business begins once you have made your offer and the seller has accepted.
A contractual agreement has been entered into between the buyer and seller outlining the price and terms of the sale. The contract is contingent upon the business passing “inspection,” which is the due diligence period allotted to the buyer.
Since it is the buyer’s responsibility to uncover any potential problem areas of the business, it is important to be prepared. This…
Posted in about business, business legal | Tags: Business advice, buyer due diligence, buying a business, due diligence checklist | No Comments »
Lies, Damn Lies and Government Statistics
February 15th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 493 views
The truth?
Too often, we think the data is straightforward math and simply draws on the underlying data sources. The reality is that it is anything but. The following example will hopefully illustrate the point.
Recently in Washington a rather large number of economists from academia and government met to resolve an issue with data gathering. It has become more serious in the US and has distorted how we value the American economy itself. Central to this issue is how imports…
Posted in about business | Tags: GDP data, productivity statistics, recession, statistics | No Comments »
Top 7 Gotcha’s at Closing When Buying a Business
February 7th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 468 views
Avoiding Mistakes at Closing
The buying and selling of businesses can be an arduous process. Both the buyer and seller are well served having a professional business broker that is seasoned and has a penchant for details.
In addition to the emotion of turning over the keys or leveraging one’s life savings for a new venture, there can be a lot of roadblocks along the way. I’ve listed the Top 7 issues of the 15…
Working Capital – Where’s The Cash?
January 30th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 650 views
Working capital
Remember the Wendy’s fast food chain tagline, “Where’s the Beef?” Buyers ask, “Where’s The Cash?”
Working capital is essential to operating a successful business. There must be free flowing cash to pay the bills. Simply stated, CASH makes the economy function and credit is the great (cash) enhancer!
Buyers, sellers, business brokers and other professionals need to not only understand working capital, but know how to leverage it to close more deals.
Most accountants agree that the definition…
Posted in business blogging, business legal, business negotiation, business news, business tips | Tags: business broker, buy business, sell business, working capital | 2 Comments »
5 Reasons You Should Consider Selling Your Business in 2010
January 20th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 696 views
Sell a business
The 2010 new year brings with it the time when business owners review their strategic plan and business goals. Many of the owners we talk to are wondering if this is the year to consider selling the business. There are five specific reasons why it would make sense to sell in 2010.
There are many factors that determine best timing for selling a small business — the financial condition of the company, valuation, growth cycle, profit history, and…
Posted in about business, business news, business tips | Tags: 2010 business trends, Business advice, business broker, reasons to sell business | 1 Comment »
Demystifying Business Valuations
January 13th, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 567 views
Business valuation
Business valuations are one of the least understood tools for a business owner. There are many reasons to perform a business valuation. These include but are not limited to buying a business, selling a business, financing expansion, estate planning, retirement planning, protecting owner income and equity, modifying ownership and unfortunately, owner divorce.
You should expect to pay over $3,000 for your valuation. Depending on your annual revenue and situation the fee could be closer to $10,000. It is worth every…
Direct Mail Marketing|Inside the Numbers
January 1st, 2010 | Author: Mitch Biggs | 1,588 views
Email, Snail mail or both?
In a world of increasing online commerce and social networking, is there still a place for old school direct mailing campaigns? The short answer is that it depends. There is no silver bullet in marketing. In fact, several marketing strategies complementing each other will increase your ROI (return on investment) as well as brand awareness. There is more merit in determining break even calculations than forecasting revenue when you are…
