A buyer can offer £2.5 million for your business, yet the amount shareholders receive may be materially lower. That is not necessarily a bad deal. It is usually the difference between Enterprise Value and Equity Value. For UK SME owners, this distinction matters when selling, raising investment, planning an exit, agreeing an EMI scheme, or…
A profitable business can still be difficult to sell if the owner remains the person who holds every key relationship, approves every decision, and fixes every serious problem. When assessing the long-term success of a company, management depth is a primary factor that directly influences a professional business valuation. Buyers aren’t only buying last year’s…
A manufacturing business can look valuable on paper and still disappoint in a sale process. The reverse is also true. A well-run company with solid margins, reliable customers and dependable equipment can command far more than its turnover suggests. An accurate manufacturing business valuation matters before a sale, investment round, management buyout, shareholder change or…
A convertible loan note can look harmless when it is signed. It is debt today, but it may become a meaningful shareholding when your next equity round closes. For UK SMEs and start-ups, that can affect founder ownership, investor returns and the valuation discussion before a term sheet is agreed. The original loan amount is…
Key Takeaways You may handle the sales calls, know every major customer, approve payments, solve staff issues and make the final decision on almost everything. The business is profitable, but much of its performance still sits with you. That can reduce business value. A buyer may see strong accounts but worry that revenue, customers and…
Business Valuations Why an Online Business Valuation Calculator Falls Short for UK SMEs By Kishen Patel, BFP ACA · ICAEW Chartered Accountant · Consult EFC Every founder wants a quick answer to one difficult question: what is the business worth? An online business valuation calculator feels tempting. You type in a few numbers, press a…
A SSAS pension loan, or connected party loan, is when your scheme lends to your own business or a connected company. The money can help fund growth, buy property, or refinance existing debt, but the valuation is the bit that makes or breaks the deal. If the figure is wrong, or the security doesn’t stack…
When you’re asking, “how much is my business worth?”, you’re usually not asking out of curiosity. You’re thinking about a sale, a funding round, a partner buy-out, tax planning, or whether the business has moved forward at all. A free calculator can give you a quick estimate, and for a rough sense check, that’s useful.…
A business is not worth “6 times profit” because someone said so over coffee. A multiple can be useful, but only when the right number is used in the right way. Too many SME owners grab the headline figure and stop there. That can push value far too high, or drag it far too low.…
If you’ve decided to sell, the number that matters isn’t the one you have in your head. It’s the one a buyer’s finance team will arrive at independently, then compare against whatever you tell them. The gap between those two numbers is where deals get renegotiated, delayed, or lost — and it’s almost always smaller…