Acquiring a business requires more than just financing it: you have to make sure it’s the business you want and can actually run. While that sounds like a simple task, it’s deceptively complex. Below are the five steps that need to be taken to find the right business for you, to accurately judge it, and to make the purchase.

Welcome back to our study of the different kinds of valuations for a company. Last time we talked about Asset Valuation, Capitalization of Income Valuation, and the Market Approach Valuation. You can read Part 1 of How to Value a Company here. This time we’ll be talking about an additional four types of valuation.

What is it worth? Whether you're buying or selling, this is the million dollar question, as well as the sticking point for many in an M&A negotiation. As a seller, without a clear idea of how much your company is worth you can encounter two problems: under-estimating your company's value, which throws away your hard work and leaves cash on the table or overestimating the value of your business, which can lead to no buyers and maybe, no sale. This is why companies undergo professional valuations.