What a difference has the last decade in the way business is conducted around the world.  I am referring as the title suggests to how ubiquitous the internet has become and how central it has become to our existence.  Certainly, every teenage and even pre-teens learn ways to use the internet from Facebook to Twitter to Xbox to Ipod.

Just as in personal living the internet has contributed to a virtually unlimited ways to monitor, manage, and handle your business affairs.  Not just in operating your business, but when it comes to selling your business the internet offers countless ways to streamline and guide your process to more efficient way to prepare and even consummate the transaction.

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Seasoned professionals know this little known fact.  Valuing a business is not completely a science neither is it completely an art.  While there are many known and time tested method of valuing businesses, at the end of the day there are a lot of subjective elements that play a huge part in the valuation process.  Several sophisticated methods can be used to estimate potential business valuations but finally it all come down to what the buyers are willing to pay.

Now let us look at the few methods of business valuation that are out there.  One of the common approaches to valuing a business is the income approach.  Under this approach the valuation is based on future discounted income of the company.  This method relies on the accuracy of cash flow projections and will depend on the market conditions that will prevail.  While a financial investor can feel good about knowing the returns the business will provide, in some industries this can be hard to predict.  How many of us would have predicted the current financial meltdown we are experiencing and its impact on income & cash flows?

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As we approach this holiday season, at the end of a rather challenging year in terms of our businesses, we are starting to see glimmers of sunshine across the board in the economy.  This is a much welcome sign, as we gather around with our families to celebrate the holidays.

We can reflect on the past year with a sense of hope, however faint the ray of hope maybe for brighter futures ahead.  In fact, it is a blessing in disguise in many respects.  Everyone has a renewed focus on family, friends, and the relations we cherish so dearly.  After we exchange our gifts this holiday season, while we sit around the family fireplace, drinking a cup of hot chocolate or eggnog, we will learn to relate more with the people near and dear to us.

We at BuyTradeBiz.com are happy to have you as customers and wish everyone of you a joyous and festive holiday season!

There is no escaping the fact that the economy will always go through a recessionary and growth cycle.  The only fact that changes in every cycle is the timing of when a recession starts, when the economy bottoms out and if the recovery is V shaped U shaped or a W and so on.  The same is true for growth periods, and the facts that change are how long the growth continues until it slows down and falls into a recession.

Now that we have agreed that recessions are unavoidable, let us see how a business owner can handle his or her exit in a recession.  I am sure some readers are thinking, why, should any owner sell a business during a recession, why not simply ride out the recession, wait for the economy to grow again and then sell the business.  Good point, but experience tells me it is not always that simple.  There are a lot of reasons, I can think of, but let me just cite a couple of them.

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Thanks to regulatory quirks text messaging is still a relatively uncluttered and spam-free marketing channel. In order for business to participate in this marketing channel, few basic rules must be followed:

1. Don’t even think about doing it the illegal way.

2. You basically have three (legitimate) options.

o The simplest and cheapest option is to hire the text-messaging equivalent of the old Valpak mailings.

o Create a custom approach specialized in by Distributive Networks. This involves registering for your own proprietary “short code,” the technical name for the five- or six-digit phone number that dialers use to access a text marketing campaign.

o Start with an off-the-shelf platform offered by companies like Mobile Commons or HipCricket that lets you share a short code.

3. Text marketing can be supported by traditional marketing.

4. It is better to give than to receive.

5. Don’t waste your time with one-offs.

6. Show restraint (and don’t get too cute).

As you are planning your marketing budget for next year, why not look into this channel, who knows this might be the most effective marketing tool you discover.

The National Food Service Security Council (NFSSC), a trade association for loss prevention and risk management professionals in the casual-dining and quick-service restaurant chain industry, announced it is expanding membership categories to include qualified franchisees and vendor companies.

“For the first time ever NFSSC is opening its membership doors to franchisee operators and vendor companies serving the multi-unit food service industry,” says Cliff Stepp, director of assets protection at Yum! NFSSC has always been about education and networking within the restaurant industry’s corporate professional loss prevention structure. Now we have the unique ability to add even more elements to that equation.”

Click here to register with NFSSCC today!

BuyTradeBiz.com would like to congratulate Mike Richards from Sunbelt Business Brokers in Tampa, FL for being the winner of the BuyTradeBiz.com launch promotional offer and the winner of the 42 inch LCD TV!

BuyTradeBiz.com would like to thank all Business Brokers for helping launch our website and we look forward to a successful partnership with all of you. Be sure to look for the upcoming Spring 2010 promotion!

Senior home care for baby-boomers is a rapidly growing concern and quickly escalating need in this country. In the next two decades, there will be more than 70 million people over the age of 65.  Caring for the growing elderly population is going to be an important service in the coming decade. These franchises can provide that care and safety for loved ones, while keeping them happy and healthy during their golden years.

“More than 12.8 million people around the country rely upon care from others, and in a recent study 80 percent of this group said that they would prefer to remain in their own homes,” says Debbie Reis, president of AmeriCare Alliance. “We provide a unique service that maintains the dignity and respect for those who need extra help while remaining in the comfort of their own home surrounded by their personal effects and their own community.”

AmeriCare Alliance is one of many new franchises which will help you hit the ground running in this industry.