What Is Your Business Worth?

As a business owner, you will likely want the highest price possible when selling your business.How do you maximize its value?

A business is worth the present value of the future cash flows that arise from the business' tangible and intangible assets. Tangible assets are the business's physical assets, such as cash, inventory, equipment, and vehicles. Intangible assets refer to the non-physical assets of a company. These are often difficult to identify, but may include (among other items) a well-established:

• reputation
• brand
• customer relationships
• network of supplier relationshipsproprietary technology or technical "know-how"

Although intangible assets, commonly called goodwill, cannot be seen or touched, they are often a business' most valuable assets.