Yearly Archives: 2009

Business sellers like most folks really don't enjoy paying taxes.  Yes, really. A wise business buyer, uncertain about the true revenues of a business for sale, can get a sense of reality by examining sale tax and federal income tax filings.  Usually sales tax filings include a record of revenues received and are usually filed close to the end of the reporting period.   Likewise federal income tax reporting shows total revenue, though often [...]

Both a business and house for sale need cleaning. In fact the business for sale may have more cleaning to do than the house.

When is it too soon for preparing a business for sale? Is the buying stage too early? Perhaps not.

Business owners who want to sell a business need to be present for the years leading up to sale. How does presence influence selling a business?

Businesses, however many million we have in this country are often the source of funding for the lobbyists that fuel the votes from our congress, votes we may or may not agree with.  However, it is typically not the small business owners working, funding  the lobby mill.  In the past two days I have as a business owner been engaged in a discussion and a letter writing campaign regarding the health care issue [...]

Business needs caring for too.  In the October 4, 2009 Style section of the New York Times, there was a cover article about how the use of curate and curator, traditionally terms exclusively related to the art industry, has been adopted by other professions such as fashion, food, music, and antiques, e.g. curating an antique collection.  My argument is that business needs to be curated too. The Oxford Dictionary defines curate as "to [...]

The practice of business is not all fun and games.  (Just in case you had not noticed!) The second definition of "smarts" in the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus, online issue, is "sharp stinging pain." How this applies to doing business it is really not too difficult to conjure up.  It is the trusted colleague who goes behind you, cutting you out of the deal.  It is the friend who uses another business, not [...]

A number of years ago, I was in exploring buying businesses in New Mexico and beyond.  My connection in most of these efforts was through business brokers.  In one process the following happened:  The business owner invited me, a prospective buyer, to meet with him.  An offer to purchase had been signed by both parties and we were in the due diligence period.  The broker was not to be at the meeting, for [...]

Non-profits are not immune from the economic challenges facing so many.  In this survival mode, can organization leaders look within and find the strength to not only plan for additional disaster but make itself stronger for any economic time?  I learn yesterday that indeed they can.  The Espanola Valley Humane Society leadership, spent five hours with a volunteer facilitator, Tom Allin, one of the owners of Jinja in Santa Fe.  The group dug [...]

I was just on Facebook, happily commenting on various entries, read one by a colleague, a beautiful quote, and was going to comment.  Then, I noted that the person who commented first was a person who owes me money for advertising and refuses to even discuss it.   I stopped dead in my tracks, unable to make the posting.  Am I alone in being uncomfortable in being social with the debtor?  Should social [...]