JPAbusiness

Buying a business is not an investment decision to be rushed into or made lightly.

For those of you considering buying a business, we have created the Business Buyer's Checklist.

The checklist contains 14 questions designed to:

• ensure you have a clear purchase objective 
• work out whether identified business opportunities are a good match for your skills and interests
• prompt you to take necessary steps regarding market appraisal, due diligence and financing.

Topics: Buying a business, Template, Checklist, business advice, business buying, Business advisor, Parramatta, Orange NSW

As a business owner or manager, there are a number of 'levers' you need to control to successfully manage working capital and drive a successful, cash-generating business.

Topics: Business Value, Selling your business, Cash flow, Working capital, Exiting your business, Checklist

If you’re a business owner considering taking on an investing party or shareholder, some form of written shareholders’ or partners’ agreement is vital.

Use the agreement to make clear all parties’ investment and partnership intentions and responsibilities from the outset.

Remember, this is your business, so you can cover whatever you think important, from business relationships, ethics and cultural issues, to insurances, taxation and debt obligations; it’s your blank canvas.

Topics: Advice, Partners, Business Structures, Shareholders, Checklist, business advice, shareholders agreement

The JPAbusiness Strategic Value Checklist has been created to help you drive positive strategic value in your business.

Don't wait until it's time to sell or exit to work on the business characteristics listed in the checklist. While strategic value drivers are not always quantifiable (as we discussed in our free eBook Strategic Value in a Business Sale) they’re not fairy dust either. They can’t be created with a magic wand overnight!

Strategic value drivers result from real actions you can take to enhance year-by-year earnings in your business, and also potentially assist you to capture extra value on exit of your business.

Topics: Business Value, Selling your business, Advice, Valuations, Exiting your business, Checklist, Business advisor

A recently released international study has found small businesses lose almost twice as much to occupational fraud – per case – as large businesses (over 100 employees).

Every two years the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) produces its Report to the Nations: Global study on occupational fraud and abuse.

The following insights about the impact of employee fraud on small business come from the 2018 report:

Topics: infographic, staff management, Checklist, Employee fraud, fraud prevention

When business owners come to see us, wanting to sell their business, we often get involved in providing what we term ‘vendor due diligence’.

When conducting vendor due diligence for clients, our role is basically to ‘pretend’ we are the buyer.

We look at a range of business health factors including:

• financial performance
• business performance
• staff and organisational aspects
• contracts, systems and suppliers
• how the business creates and drives value in terms of its point of difference in the market
• forward order book i.e. the pipeline, to understand the true nature of the business as a going concern
• how exposed the business might be to individuals or particular customers or suppliers.

Topics: Selling your business, Template, Checklist, business advice, Business advisor, vendor due diligence

Topics: Buying a business, Checklist, business advice, business buying, Business advisor

If you are considering taking on a shareholder or other investing party, it is very important you ensure there is some form of written shareholders’ or partners’ agreement from the outset.

Use the agreement to make clear all parties’ investment and partnership intentions and responsibilities.

In this video I explain why you should have a shareholders' agreement and some of the key issues that need to be covered off in the document.

Topics: Partners, Shareholders, Video, Checklist

Improved communications and the global economy mean businesses are increasingly using outsourcing parties to drive efficiencies.

Contractors, part-time and casual staff, consultants and advisers, are now common among SMEs and larger businesses alike.

We’ve created the JPAbusiness Outsourcing Checklist to help you as a business owner or senior manager decide where and when you can use outsourcing, or virtual resourcing.

Topics: Free download, Template, outsourcing, virtual team, staff management, Checklist