Even for multigenerational businesses, times change. Most importantly, the players change, too. All business owners must keep valuation in the back of their minds when they sense that a game-changing company has moved into their marketplace.
But competitors aren't the only market forces that change a company's fortunes. Look at what outsourcing and more modern technologies have done to established companies. If they haven't kept up, they have three choices:
- modernise (often though for smaller companies to afford),
- put themselves up for sale (to a market that may not be ready to buy), or
- simply fade away.
Many business owners may not see the end coming, whereas the best valuation professionals do. Valuation is not all about that final dollar figure; it's about measuring a business's short- and long-term viability as well. A valuation expert with knowledge of your industry - or access to outsider experts who have that knowledge - is as much a central business advisor as your accountant or attorney.
