Question
We have owned a service business for 26 years and are thinking about retiring. We hired a General Manager 3 years ago and he has brought up sales considerably. He has requested to either be a partner or purchase the business. We asked if he could afford the $2 Million we feel is the value [...]

Question
My husband is a shareholder in a family owned business set up as a S Corporation. Why does it seem that we see no monetary benefit in being part owner in this company? We just completed our taxes and it seems the only time we benefit in any way is when the company takes a [...]

Question
I’m writing a business plan at the moment on my small business of starting a newspaper that will be advertising jobs and businesses. My problem is how do l go about finding out what my competitors are doing? do I phone them? Or is there a place where I can go to get their information [...]

Question
What parts of a business plan should be included when it is being used to raise money for purchasing an existing business? The knowns are the 12 different SIC codes for targeted types of businesses, a target size of $750k to $2.5MM in annual sales and a personal financial statement.
We want to start raising capital [...]

Question
I am considering buying from a person who didn’t keep accurate books. I have a copy of what was given to his accountant, but because it is a totally cash business I believe these numbers are adjusted low. Is there any other way I can accurately evaluate this business?
Answer
My advice is to follow the cash. [...]

Question
I am contemplating the idea of selling my own homemade beef jerky on the Internet, but I have reservations about food safety regulations that prohibit me from doing so. It is a very open ended question: What are the key things I need to look for in this start up?
The reasons I have for this [...]

Question
I have the responsibility of kick-starting our new office. I have been given a fairly rough brief and i was wondering with my new staff, what “roles” I can give them. I have managed a unit before, but never created jobs. Apart from myself I’ll be needing about six staff to run this travel [...]

Question
When writing a business plan-how many copies do I usually need to prepare?
Do I need to make some kind of contract agreement with clients who are looking to invest in my business when showing them my business plan-to protect my ideas and planning organization?
Answer
Prepare as many copies as you intend to distribute and keep track [...]

Question
I’ve been on the websites about writing business plans but I still don’t know where to begin in writing my own. Please give me some suggestions.
Answer
[Edit note: We do try to avoid making sales pitches in this expert area, but this question is exactly why Business Plan Pro was developed and is the market leader. [...]

Question
I am a recent graduate from Mt. Ida college with a degree in technical electricity. When I obtained my electrician’s license I started thinking about starting my own business. Do you have information about starting a trade-based business?
Answer
First thing, I hope it’s obvious, we aren’t experts in a lot of different specific businesses. We can [...]