Buying a Small Business in the UK - A Quick Reference Guide

to not only make a good living but to minimise tax which are not available if you are an employee of someone else's company. 3. Financial Return - Building Wealth - As the business and profits grow, so does the value of the business if you decide to sell. So not only are you receiving the profits in a given year, but the level of profit is simultaneously increasing the value of the business so a sort of double bubble. From an investment perspective, the leverage factor is staggering if the business does well based on a small investment from the Buyer. Let’s run through an example: Enterprise Value - Your target company has EBITDA of £600K (and after-tax income of £500K), in this example you decide to purchase this company for £1.8M (3x). Offer - You offer the Seller a closing payment of £1M which comprises £300K of your money (your total investment is £400K as you need to cover £100K in acquisition costs) and £700K from a bank cash flow loan over 5 years plus £800K deferred payments to the Seller (£1.8M - £1M) over 4 years or £200K per year. Debt - This means total debt payments are £200K for the deferred and about £200K for the bank loan leaving you £100K excess each year. Growth - Over the 5 years you increase the EBITDA by 10% a year so at the end of 5 years, EBITDA is up to £1M. Exit - After 5 years, all the loans are paid off and you sell the business for a 4x multiple (as EBITDA is higher) * £1M in EBITDA or £5M in sale value. Return of Investment - Your return on your £400K investment is a staggering 1250 %! (12x+).

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