Once the enterprise value specialists at Ceibass have gotten to know the owner of a landscape company and established a set of workable objectives for the sale of the business, the next step in the exit planning process is to assess the current state of the business and the market situation.
“We will examine the marketability and value of the business from many points of view,” said Tom Fochtman Ceibass CEO. “We’ll examine the financials to make sure the business is in good shape. We’ll conduct a market value valuation, an asset-based valuation, a ROI based evaluation, a discounted cash flow valuation and a multiples of earnings valuation.”
The team at Ceibass went on to say that they do a SWOT analysis, look at comparable sales in the area and region, assess the management team, leadership, competition, route densities, state of the equipment, customer retention, contracts, and create an ideal buyer profile.
“The purpose of this stage in the exit planning process is to explore and see what the threats, obligations and opportunities real are,” added Tom. “This is a reality check … what are our options? Really. At this stage we are going to make an assessment about when we are going to go to market to maximize the value and sale of the business. Is it in the short term where we make minor tweaks here and there? Or is it about making major fixes to the business to really enhance the value. Either way, this assessment gives us commitment, direction, velocity and focus for the next step – developing the plan of action.”
