USA Question about how to value business? please help

[coryjsmith18]

Hey guys! I'm not quite sure if this is the right forum on here to post... but I'd appreciate your help!

Does anybody have experience or preference with a business valuation tool that can help an investor value a company? Thanks.

 

[saad25]

Hi! There are many methods that are generally used depending on the size of the business. Can you shed some more light on the business industry/size,etc? Thanks!

Regards,
saad

 

[coryjsmith18]

I'm not looking for anybody to do a valuation for me - just curious if you know of any online tools that could help for a small business to get a ballpark estimate.

 

[saad25]

you had not mentioned online tool before in your post. Don't know of any. Thanks!

 

[coryjsmith18]

Still looking - anybody know of an online tool that could give me a ballpark estimate of business value?

 

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Business Valuation

Have you tried Shareholders Value Added or Economic Value Added with DCF. It also would depend on the size of the industry & market sector. For example if you are listed on the S&P 500 the market prices might move against the "acquirer" if the market is certain that the "acquired" is worth more than that then if you cannot pay the offer the deal might be closed. E.g. the acquired might mean that acquirer would become the largest distributor in that geographical region. Watchout for debt/equity arbitrage.

 

[coryjsmith18]

Thanks, but I don't need to know the formulas or variables--nor do I need a professional at this stage. Does anyone have experience with a website that can provide a ball park estimate--sort of like comps within an MLS?

 

[Samir]

I'm not sure of any site that can evaluate a business with any accuracy. There's a lot of information necessary for this type of analysis and not all of it is in the public domain or available from 'information' companies.

It's difficult to put a number on a business's goodwill, growth potential, etc. And these are factors when buying a business.

 

[TheValueGuy]

It sounds like you are looking for something that can give you ballpark estimate for similar businesses in your area?

There are a few sites to consider, like Valusource for small business. I can't post the actual link but valusource(dot)com/Products/BusinessStakeholders.aspx

Their service isn’t necessarily a legally binding valuation but it may be what you are looking for. A lot of the pros use their higher end stuff, but this is affordable and should work.

 

[coryjsmith18]

It sounds like you are looking for something that can give you ballpark estimate for similar businesses in your area?

There are a few sites to consider, like Valusource for small business. I can't post the actual link but valusource(dot)com/Products/BusinessStakeholders.aspx

Their service isn’t necessarily a legally binding valuation but it may be what you are looking for. A lot of the pros use their higher end stuff, but this is affordable and should work.

Thanks for the response. Does anybody have experience with this kind of service?