Beyond the financial performance of a business, many other factors are considered in valuing your business and in determining how attractive it will be to potential buyers or investors. Key factors will include:

• EBITDA & Turnover
  Historical, Current & Future
• Implementable business strategy to deliver future profitable revenue streams.
• Management Team – strong, capable, committed.
• Addressable, accessible market – size & opportunities to support forecasted streams.
• Value Proposition – differentiated and articulated.
• Sales / Marketing / Business Development Plans that will deliver the numbers.
• Number of customers, spread of orders, customer mix.
• Customer loyalty, lifetime value of customer, repeat revenue streams (renewals).
• Term associated with existing contracts.
• SWOT with respect to ALL competitors (including the status quo).
• Robust, auditable business processes and procedures – Financial, operations, sales, marketing
• Innovation  / R & D.
• Brand Strength.
• Staff turnover.
• All members of senior management team, key employees aligned.
• Key employees ring fenced.
• IP Ownership and protection.

Contact Phil Tapsell at TechVenture Solutions Ltd.

 philt@techvs.co.uk                www.techvs.co.uk

There is no shortage of innovation in the UK, but there are significant barriers to its successful commercialisation.
With or without funding, the majority of innovation and technology businesses do fail. That is a fact and it is not an improving situation. Over 90% of those that do fail, fail due to a lack of customers; The execution of a focused, sales led, customer driven business development plan is essential for any business, no matter the size or the sector.
But this is especially true for (early stage) tech SMEs where the expertise and focus of entrepreneurial founders of technology businesses is typically the technology itself.
In the specialist area of sales development – which is the absolute and fundamental success factor – they often look for help, support and guidance from a specialist business resource that recognises and has experience of the unique challenges they face.
“TECHVENTURE SOLUTIONS IS THAT SPECIALIST RESOURCE”. Visit www.techvs.co.uk or call Phil Tapsell on +44 (0) 7979 693242

At least he gets it ……

“The most important thing in any business and the most difficult is getting orders from both existing customers and new customers and then getting follow on orders from both. Without orders nothing of any value can happen in the business.   Orders can only come from customers; there is no other option.  ‘How can I help in this core initiative?’  Simply by extending the above to its logical conclusion.  If you are not directly responsible for getting orders make sure you are a key contributor to the efforts of those who are.” 

Phil Tizzard – MD Siemens Communications Nov 2000

MAG-net North West Business Network Group are delighted to announce their next event which will take place on Tuesday 14th September 2010 from 6pm at MAG HQ Sackville Street Manchester. 

The keynote of the evening is a presentation by personal productivity expert and guru, Dr Mark Nugent, on How To Triple Your Productivity Overnight.

This is a must see event from one of the UK’s leading practitioners in the field of personal productivity.

Mark will show you a simple system to triple your productivity overnight. This is the only time management system you need. Mark has been helping clients to do this now for years. It’s easy to do and will make a profound difference to your business life. 

Why is personal productivity important? – imagine if nothing else changes in your business life apart from the fact that you spend three times as much time as you were doing, and your competitors are doing, on the key activities that will deliver your goals. Would that make a difference to you? 

At the September MAG-Net event, Mark will show you how to do it.  

What’s the output from this session? – you’ll be in a position from the very next day to implement the system. You will be able to join the elite band of people who use their time like it’s the most precious thing in the world,  allowing you to achieve your goals  quicker than you thought possible. 

Invites to the event will be sent out this week. Please email me if you would like to be included on the circulation list.

Posted by John Lewis

Unfortunately, some wealthy individuals (angels) are too greedy. I saw a bad example recently where an angel had ripped off an entrepreneur, taking a controlling stake for a small investment. Banks are not the answer either.

The key, as Phil Tapsell stated, is for a business to have a viable business model. In my experience there are few “venture capitalists” in the UK that have the capability to understand these – most are in California.

I have a group of investors, very wealthy individuals, who are interested in investing in viable green investments and I welcome proposals.

I read this post at Innovation Manchester this morning (I love Innovation Manchester by they way!) :

It’s not often the News of the World features in the Innovation Manchester discussion board, but this is how they reported the news yesterday:
“DAVID Cameron is to slash spending on green technology but pour hundreds of millions of pounds into charities, voluntary groups and churches, the News of the World can reveal… In a speech in the North West, he will say that more than £350million sitting in unused or dormant bank accounts across the country will be used to fund the new ethical bank.”

Disappointing and confusing since it’s less than 3 weeks since we were reading about the importance and urgency for the GIB http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/29/green-investment-bank-low-carbon-economy?intcmp=239

HOWEVER, HERE IS MY TAKE ON THIS …..

Bad though this is, too many UNVIABLE businesses have been too reliant on public sector funding for too long, without delivering any ROI back to the economy for that investment of public funds. You only have to look at the majority of the NWDA’s R & D Grant Funded projects to see why those now in Government are looking at this stuff with a very sceptical eye.
Yes we need the funding and investment from PUBLIC and PRIVATE sectors, but only ventures that really are viable and INVESTOR READY should be supported.
For many of these businesses who have taken the public sector grants and funds, the majority will not survive now – not because of Government cuts BUT BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE VIABLE BUSINESS MODELS.

If you have a business that has been surviving on hand outs from the Government, it is time to wake up to the reality of having to commercialise your product…. i.e. secure sustainable and profitable revenue streams.

For those shaking their heads ….this advice is like painkilling medicine. Might not taste nice, but it is good for you and you need it.

A very hard-working and highly educated scientist has made a breakthrough with his new project. It is expected that his new device will have a huge impact on many people’s lives. As you can imagine, he is very excited.

This is a very clever chap. He is an engineer. He is an expert in rocket propulsion, aerodynamics, chemistry, physics, and fluid flow. His particular specialty is delivering substances that decompose rapidly under certain conditions and produce gases which expand by heat of reaction. 

Today he has made a breakthrough by creating a device that will be delivered to, and will change the lives of women and children living in the most remote areas of the world.

But not for the better……because this new hi-tech device is called a PFM-1 and if a child or mother steps on it, the resulting explosion neatly removes their leg from the knee down. If they are lucky they get to keep the other one.

A lot of effort has gone into the science of maiming people using landmines and it takes a very special organisation to stop this horror.

I recently had the privilege of meeting Phil Halford who is one of MAG’s bomb disposal experts. This is a guy who works inside the real ‘Hurt Locker’.

It is estimated that during Phil’s time with MAG they have removed over one million devices, all of which were designed to change people’s lives in the most horrific ways possible.

When people read this, they don’t need to ask me why I decided to support MAG by taking part in a sponsored bike ride and by raising their profile within the North West business community. I hope you will do the same.

www.maginternational.org

Victoria Wood has just returned from the Mines Advisory Group programme in Laos. A film about her visit and the inspirational work undertaken by MAG is scheduled for broadcast:

• 5.35pm Sunday 25 July BBC1
• 13.50pm Thursday 29 July BBC2
• BBC i-Player for one week following the BBC2 repeat

It will also be viewable on MAG’s website from Monday 26 July www.maginternational.org/lifeline

 Could I ask you to please forward details to any of your friends, relatives and colleagues who you think will be interested to watch this short film and support MAG.

 Thank You

Companies that operate in unattractive markets, target customers who do not want what they sell, or do not offer what customers want to buy, WILL go out of business: the only question is one of timing. 

Is your business EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE?

READ MORE ……… http://techvs.co.uk/_file/h5un0vOTx2_38637.pdf