Kirberts finance advice and news

Naz Daud

Does your business have its liquidity event mapped out? Entrepreneurialism can be demanding, and therefore drafting an exit plan is often ignored. If you have raised venture capital then the chances are that your investors will expect you to achieve liquidity at one point in the future.

One tough part of entrepreneurialism is not only working out if you have a good idea, but also establishing if it has the capability to scale, get acquired, or go public. If the answer to any of those questions is “no”, then it’s essential that you establish what your long terms goals are. If you are not able to achieve liquidity, then the performance of your profit and loss account will be the only business metric that matters. It also means that, should you wish to move on in the future, you’ll have to give up your businesses profits with no realizable gains.

One key part of entrepreneurialism is planning your exit strategy. Although your business may change routes along the way, having a solid plan to work from can often pay dividends in saving wasted time, energy and money. If you wanted to start a broadband business, for example, then it would be easy to think of potential companies that might want to buy you at a later stage. And, the market is certainly big enough to go public if you manage to gain a decent percentage of market share.

However, entrepreneurialism isn’t always that simple. Some companies may have a completely new idea taking on a completely new market. In this instance planning your exit can get a little bit trickier. It’s less likely you will have direct competitors who would look to buy your business, and therefore you have to consider the likelihood of achieving liquidity through an alternative route.

Maybe a potential buyer would be able to achieve synergies through selling your product to their customers, or integrating it with their existing technologies? Or maybe if you manage to promote entrepreneurialism within the boardroom, a management buy-out could be an option?

The following are options to consider when planning your exit:

IPO

An IPO or initial public offering is when you make your shares available on the stock market. This is usually the most liquid market for equities, however you will usually require a sizeable market capitalization and stable earnings before this is an advisable option. At this point, there will be a firm price associated with the equity you own in your business.

Acquisition

If your company gets acquired then you may be able to get a much quicker exit than if you hold out for an IPO. If you intend to develop great technology, but do not want to build the infrastructure to unlock its full potential, this can be a great option. Sometimes entrepreneurialism can be about doing what you do best, and then moving on. For some people, that’s starting companies and taking them to a certain stage.

Sell Your Equity

It’s possible for you to sell your equity while allowing pre-existing investors to keep hold of theirs. You may find that pre-existing investors are the best people to approach in this instance. However if the company has potential, a large pool of potential candidates may be interested. The board may also consider a share buy-back.

Naz Daud - CityLocal Business & Franchises Internet Franchise Opportunity & Business Opportunities UK Business Franchises and Internet Business Directory Ireland Business Directory & Computer Franchises Work from Home

CALGARY, Alberta - EnCana Corp , Canada’s largegest energy company, has said on Sunday it plans to split into two separate oil and natural gas firms in an effort to wring out more value with crude prices at all time highs.

CALGARY, Alberta - EnCana Corp , Canada’s largegest energy company, has said on Sunday it plans to split into two separate oil and natural gas firms in an effort to wring out more value with crude prices at all time highs.

NEW YORK - Tribune Co is close to a deal to sell Newsday to Cablevision Systems Corp for $650 million, the Long Island paper reported on its website on Sunday, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

ScottJack

If you’re planning to invest in the stock market then you will need to understand the fundamentals of stock market investing first. One of the key things you need to know is that you will need to use a stock broker no matter what your knowledge of the market is. The stock broker can be a single person you hire or it can be done online through a firm like E*Trade. There are two huge two differences between the two and the online option has only become popular in recent years.

Twenty years ago when people would invest their money they would simply give their money to a stock broker and they would in turn invest in keeping some of the money. There use to also be many fees that were charged for these services and the broker made money off every deal even if you lost money.

Now that the competition is more fierce most of the fees are no longer in place, although you may run into some unexpected fees with your broker or firm it’s rarer of an occurrence. Costs of investing have lowered dramatically since the introduction of the stock market and stock brokers and it’s more affordable then ever. You can even invest online now using a stock broker firm and all you pay for is simply the transaction fees. You’re completely in control of your portfolio and investments, so if you plan on going this route make sure you have lots of experience and understand what you’re doing.

If you’re new to the stock market and investing in stocks then you should hire a local stock broker to handle your investments and questions. This is ideal for the first few years so that you can build a solid portfolio with the help of a broker. This method will cost a lot more then handling your own investments through an online firm but if you don’t know what you’re doing then this is the best option.

After you gain experience you should move your portfolio to an online firm like E*Trade and start choosing your own stocks to invest in. This is a lot cheaper and you’ll make more money by doing the work yourself, so once you’re capable of handling it you should.

So whether you choose a stock broker who you can meet in person to answer questions and help handle your portfolio or you decide to use a stock broker firm that can handle your transactions for you, you always need to use a middleman to buy you’re the stocks. There isn’t anyway around this and every single person who invests with stocks goes through either a stock broker or firm who is licensed to purchase stocks for you. Both are suitable for different people and depending upon your knowledge of the stock market will determine your decision of choosing a stock broker or firm. One is ideal for getting help whereas the other form is ideal for doing the work and investing yourself without help for the company.

Scott Jack offers lots of great financial articles on Credit Crunch. For more specific articles visit Credit Card Tips and Insurance Tips.

ABU DHABI - Mubadala Development Co, an Abu Dhabi
investment arm which manages over $10 billion in assets, has said
on Sunday it will develop an offshore island into a new
business district that would house the stock exchange.

BEIJING - China has established a company to construct regional commercial jets, with an eye to eventually reducing the country’s reliance on Boeing and Airbus for jumbo jets, official media has said on Sunday.

TOKYO - Citigroup Inc is considering selling its Japanese consumer finance company CFJ KK or cutting the unit’s business significantly as part of its plans to shed assets, Japanese daily Nikkei reported on Sunday.