I called what I thought was a prospective client. He answered, I introduced myself, and then it went like this, after an introduction:
- Me: Is this a good time to talk?
- Him: Yes
- Me: Are you thinking about selling and exiting?
- Him: Can you tell me what my business is worth?
- Me: I can’t pull a number out of the air. I’ll need to know some things about your business.
- Him: Maybe it’s not a good time.
- Me: When should we reschedule?
- Him (with an incredulous tone): I only want to know what my business is worth.
It’s a common misunderstanding. We can go on Zillow and see what our house is worth (or close to it). We can see comparable sales online, listings of similar houses, etc. But businesses have a lot more moving parts and without knowing about the industry, profitability, red flags and warning signs, growth trends, etc. it’s impossible. There is no “one size fits all” formula.