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Sanity Check - Buying a Business(part I)

Written by prakash sharma

Friday, 28 March 2008

In the business broker community there is a review process that helps a buyer determine if a business purchase makes sense or not. This check can be done by a Fortune 500 company where everything is figured down to the penny and takes 1000 hours of research or it can be done by a small main street shop buyer who figures it out in 1 hour. Each item in this review process requires a decision. This decision can be based on extensive research or just on a reasonable guess.

The beauty of this process is; how long you want to spend on doing this activity is totally up to you. As we review this process, I will explain the variables of this system so you can make the necessary decisions where needed. Remember, this is only a tool to help you make decisions about a business purchase; it is not a sure-fire foolproof system. I will just lay it out for you and you make your own decision as to the validity of this formula for analyzing a business purchase that you may want to make.

The Sanity check requires two mathematical formulas, which require dollar amounts or other numbers to be entered in each formula. The math is calculated and then the results are compared against the purchase price. If it doesn't work out the way you wanted, you have the option of then going back and change some of the numbers and do the calculation a second time.

The two formulas are:

1. SP + WC - BF = CR
Sale Price + Working Capital - Borrowed Funds = Cash Requirement

2. SDE - FMW (FO) - DS - ROI = Extra Profit/Loss
Sellers Discretionary Earnings - Fair Market Wage (for the owner) - Debt Service - Return on Investment (Cash Requirement x Interest rate -Stated as a Percentage) = Extra Profit/Loss

Since each item in the formula needs to have a dollar amount determined, we will define the terms and then discuss how the dollar amount is derived at.

Terms Definition:

Sale Price: The price that is being asked for the business or the price the buyer is thinking of offering. Depending on when you do this analysis. If you are trying to determine an asking price you would calculate all the other numbers in these two formulas to determine what should be your offering price. We will do examples to make this clear later in this article.

Working Capital: The short-term assets minus the short-term liabilities is the accounting definition. The simple explanation would be the amount of money necessary to be invested by the buyer to run the daily operations of the business, once purchased. This would include monies tied up in inventory, and accounts receivables. Money invested to pay the landlord's or utility company's deposits. Also included is the money spent on the business purchase to cover the loan origination costs and purchase escrow fees when buying the business. It is the total funds invested into the business to keep it running. The down payment given to the seller is not part of this number, since it is included as a separate item.

Calculation notes:
1. Cost of inventory: $_________________ (+)
2. Accounts receivable: $_________________ (+)
3. Landlord deposit: $_________________ (+)
4. Utility Deposits: $_________________ (+)
5. Escrow fees to purchase: $_________________ (+)
6. Loan origination costs: $_________________ (+)
7. Short term liabilities* $ _________________ (--)
Total Working Capital $_________________

* Short-term liabilities are defined as liabilities that are to be paid off within 1 year - accounts payables and the part of any notes payable that are to be paid within 1 year.

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Sanity Check - Buying a Business(part I)
Written by PKPKPK on 2008-03-28 01:23:37

In the business broker community there is a review process that helps a buyer determine if a business purchase makes sense or not. This check can be done by a Fortune 500 company where everything is figured down to the penny and takes 1000 hours of research or it can be done by a small main street shop buyer who figures it out in 1 hour. Each item in this review process requires a decision. This decision can be based on extensive research or just on a reasonable guess.

The beauty of this process is; how long you want to spend on doing this activity is totally up to you. As we review this process, I will explain the variables of this system so you can make the necessary decisions where needed. Remember, this is only a tool to help you make decisions about a business purchase; it is not a sure-fire foolproof system. I will just lay it out for you and you make your own decision as to the validity of this formula for analyzing a business purchase that you may want to make.

The Sanity check requires two mathematical formulas, which require dollar amounts or other numbers to be entered in each formula. The math is calculated and then the results are compared against the purchase price. If it doesn’t work out the way you wanted, you have the option of then going back and change some of the numbers and do the calculation a second time.

The two formulas are:

1. SP + WC – BF = CR
Sale Price + Working Capital - Borrowed Funds = Cash Requirement

2. SDE – FMW (FO) – DS - ROI = Extra Profit/Loss
Sellers Discretionary Earnings - Fair Market Wage (for the owner) - Debt Service - Return on Investment (Cash Requirement x Interest rate -Stated as a Percentage) = Extra Profit/Loss

Since each item in the formula needs to have a dollar amount determined, we will define the terms and then discuss how the dollar amount is derived at.

Terms Definition:

Sale Price: The price that is being asked for the business or the price the buyer is thinking of offering. Depending on when you do this analysis. If you are trying to determine an asking price you would calculate all the other numbers in these two formulas to determine what should be your offering price. We will do examples to make this clear later in this article.

Working Capital: The short-term assets minus the short-term liabilities is the accounting definition. The simple explanation would be the amount of money necessary to be invested by the buyer to run the daily operations of the business, once purchased. This would include monies tied up in inventory, and accounts receivables. Money invested to pay the landlord’s or utility company’s deposits. Also included is the money spent on the business purchase to cover the loan origination costs and purchase escrow fees when buying the business. It is the total funds invested into the business to keep it running. The down payment given to the seller is not part of this number, since it is included as a separate item.

Calculation notes:
1. Cost of inventory: $_________________ (+)
2. Accounts receivable: $_________________ (+)
3. Landlord deposit: $_________________ (+)
4. Utility Deposits: $_________________ (+)
5. Escrow fees to purchase: $_________________ (+)
6. Loan origination costs: $_________________ (+)
7. Short term liabilities* $ _________________ (--)
Total Working Capital $_________________

* Short-term liabilities are defined as liabilities that are to be paid off within 1 year – accounts payables and the part of any notes payable that are to be paid within 1 year.

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