When you sell your business, you want to get all of your cash upfront, putting the risk in the hands of the buyer. When you buy a business, you want to put up as little cash as possible in favor of paying for results in an earn-out—so the risk sits in the hands of the seller. If a potential buyer sees your company as risky, he or she won’t want to play. A...

This morning at a Starbucks in downtown Seattle, I tried a new kind of coffee–one that sparked an insight about business. The coffee was made with a Clover–a new machine for brewing coffee that allows for greater customization of each cup. It operates kind of like a French Press, but it works much faster (90 seconds per cup, as opposed to 6...

I just received a bill from my lawyer today in which he itemized his time spent on my file last month. He spent four-tenths of an hour on an e-mail to a colleague and one-tenth of an hour leaving me a voice mail. I have found billing by the hour to be a liability in trying to build a sellable business. Years ago I owned a small design studio that charged by the...

Have you ever wondered what prompts a business owner to put their company up for sale?I put that question to the head of mid-market M&A for a Toronto-based investment bank specializing in selling companies (he requested anonymity).1. Unsolicited bid“Typically, a client calls us because they have been approached out of the blue by a buyer.” My banker...

Short on cash and long on energy, most new business start-ups struggle through their first few months on the flexibility and stick-to-itiveness of their founder. Like feeling around for the light switch in the dark, you try to find a formula that works. All of that experimentation usually gets you through the first few months but also creates a business highly...