When selling a business, the value of the business is perhaps the most important component to consider. It is fundamental to infer an expected valuation of your company from the start so that you are clear about your assumptions and your ability to haggle during your company’s bid. There are several key factors that affect the value of your business, just as there are a number of methods that can be used to determine value.

Key factors influencing the valuation of your company

• Finance

The company’s monetary history and current circumstances are critical to overall value as well as cash flow and projected benefits. Plenty of buyers will be curious to see how well spending has been controlled and whether there will be a need for capital spending from now on.

• Assets and Liabilities

The value of the company’s assets such as property, stock, equipment and outstanding records is another key variable. Interestingly, any current liabilities and the amount of the obligation should also be considered.

• External Factors

The overall health of the economy affects the level of interest in your business, such as the level of loan fees and the rate of expansion. You should research the value of comparable companies, the level of immersion in your market, and the number of potential buyers that may be interested.

• Intangibles

Intangibles, such as the likely evolution of your business, the strength of your customer relationships, and protected innovation and generosity may also affect the final score.

• People

How dependent your business is on your own contribution is a component that buyers need to gain a proper understanding of, as while your job is fundamental, the value could be impacted as a result of your exit. Management’s performance history and staff responsibility and experience are also to be considered.

Although a large number of these factors are beyond your control, there are steps you can take before you offer your business and make any significant changes to make it as important as expected. The sooner you start designing, the better prepared you are to sell your business.

It’s important to remember that the evaluation you or your own consultants may create will likely be emotional. Many business owners overvalue their business, and in the end the business is only worth what a buyer pays.

Techniques for evaluating your business

There are several techniques you can use to determine the potential value of your business. The most well-known strategies are valuations of capitalization of future cash flows and products of future returns.

1. Difference in Earnings

Businesses that have proven supported benefits are typically valued at a multiple of future profits. Benefits are adjusted for unique or exceptional things, and then an estimate of normal income is made. The number is a component that will shift between different companies.

• Discounted cash flow

Many companies are valued using these principles as an income method, but that valuation depends on the valuation and discounting of future cash flows. Current cash flow is valued higher than long-term cash flow.

• Asset Valuation

Asset valuation is another strategy used for stable companies with significant, distinctive assets. This technique depends on the value of the verified assets identified in the business accounts.

Familiarizing yourself with the business valuation cycle will very likely save you a lot of money when it comes time to sell your business.

Conclusion

Flippa was specifically designed to enable business owners and merchants to sell their businesses in a fair manner. Flippa also provides useful data on buying and selling businesses in any country. So, Value your business on Flippa for successful selling process.

Where would you be without your manufacturers, suppliers, couriers and anyone else involved in your supply chain?

Think about it; whether you run a B2B or B2C business, you would not be able to deliver your goods and services to your customers quickly and effectively without these other organisations.

The problem is, no matter what industry you’re in, when you’re working with third parties (and often multiple third parties), there will always be an increased risk of a cybersecurity breach.

And, of course, it’s not always your fault, and it’s not often within your control. For example, if a supplier has weak security systems, cybercriminals might take advantage of these vulnerabilities.

But while you might be worrying that there is little you can do about this other than try to choose reliable third parties to work with, we’re here to tell you otherwise.

If you’re concerned about your supply chain security, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce the risks of a breach. Here are X supply chains security best practices you should implement in your business.

1. Conduct careful risk assessments

Although you might be aware that third parties present a risk to the security of your business, you might not be fully aware of what these risks actually are.

So, whenever you’re choosing to work with a new supplier, courier, etc., it’s important that you carry out a risk assessment before signing a contract with them.

This way, you can identify and, therefore, address any security concerns you might have, or perhaps even decide that the risk is too big and that you’d be better off looking elsewhere.

There are a number of different factors you should consider when conducting your assessment, and these are:

Data sharing

How much data will you be sharing with them, and are they then sharing this with their own suppliers or clients? You should also consider the sensitivity of the data you’re sharing; for example, will they be handling your customer’s data?

Frequency of use

Think about how much work you’ll be doing with this particular business. If they are an important and immediate part of your supply chain, you need to put more time and care into vetting them than those that might be infrequent and ad hoc suppliers.

Their security efforts

You should find out what security policies and procedures they use to assure the security of your information and data.

You need to find out whether they have security controls in place and  if they are following their own cybersecurity best practices.

Remember, you are perfectly within your rights to ask what systems they have in place to give your business peace of mind before working with them.

Ranking your suppliers

When conducting risk assessments, it can be a helpful idea to separate all third parties into categories to see which pose the biggest threats and which offer the best security systems.

And these considerations should apply to any business, no matter how big or small they are, because, despite common misconceptions, the size of the business doesn’t matter; they are still a target for cybercriminals.

2. Impose your own security requirements

Part of assessing the security systems of a supplier during your assessment means deciding what level of security you need them to have and maintain throughout your partnership. You should ensure these requirements are properly outlined in your supplier policy and any contracts you sign with new third parties.

Your expectations and requirements are likely to vary depending on the nature of the contract and the severity of the risk you think they pose to your business. Let’s say; for example, a courier will be accessing your customer data; therefore, you want them to have the most stringent security measures in place to protect your customers.

You also need to make sure that both their business and your own are meeting all General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

You can ask the supplier to prove to you that they have set a certain standard for their security. You should also look out for third parties that have the certifications to prove it. This could mean only working with organisations that have a Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certificate, for example.

3. Practice what you preach

Remember, cybersecurity is a two-way street, and you can’t expect their parties to meet the appropriate security standards if you don’t meet these yourself.

So, in order to bolster your security on both sides, you have to practise what you preach. By being transparent and showing suppliers that you are also meeting the security responsibilities that you are imposing on them, you can forge a strong and trustworthy relationship that lasts for years.

After all, you are just as much a part of your supply chain as anyone else, so don’t drop the ball when it comes to your own supply chain security efforts.

4. Ensure cybersecurity training

Did you know that human error is still the biggest cause of cyberattacks? This makes both your own employees, as well as those within your chosen third parties, a potential security risk.

For this reason, it is a good idea to make sure both your employees and those of your suppliers are aware of the most common types of cybersecurity threats and how they should respond to them.

A simple bit of training can do wonders for your supply chain security, so whether you offer this yourself or perhaps write into your policy that all third party employees must have received cybersecurity training, this can be a big step towards protecting your business.

Some of the most important topics you might wish to cover with your own employees include:

• Understanding the different types of cyber threats
• Knowing how to respond to threats and what the company procedures are
• The importance of password security
• How to safely use email, the internet and social media
• How to safely handle company and customer data

5. Always ensure the secure transfer of data

Finally, in order to do their jobs properly, it’s likely that your suppliers will need access to certain data and information.

As such, it’s vital that any information that is being shared is transferred securely and can only be accessed by those who have the authorisation to do so.

This can be done in a number of ways, firstly by classifying data to ensure that any sensitive information is stored, labelled and deleted in line with GDPR, as well as your own company policies.

By only sharing data that is absolutely pertinent to the supply chain function, you can reduce the risk of data unnecessarily falling into the wrong hands.

It’s also crucial to know where all your data is stored and that all data is backed up regularly, as well as being able to encrypt the information when transferring it to minimise the risk of a breach and prevent data loss in transit.

Communication is vital to the success of the modern work environment. Hence, simplified training and communication strategies like using bite-sized professional content provide a robust solution that allows you to train and efficiently communicate with your team. Consequently, you make a more productive and efficient team on the job. Below are just some of the many reasons to use bite-sized content in your workplace training programs and communication, including video content.

1.  Easy Accessibility

Your frontline workers can access their bite-sized professional content through channels they already use without logging into your intranet. Consequently, your employees will be able to access your updates quickly and easily. Moreover, you’ll avoid interrupting them with email alerts or even constant requests for information. It’s always good to know where you stand; otherwise, you could fall behind your competitors due to slow responses or inadequate service to your customers.

Whether you have a large workforce that works across different times zones or manages an army of contractors who are constantly on business trips, your communication must be easy to access. Communicating using bite-sized content will enable you to achieve your communication goals quickly. As such, your team can always be up to date with what’s going on at any given time.

Thus bite-sized content will help improve Employee Engagement by providing your frontline workers with fast and easy access to training videos. They can take them on their own time and refer back to them when necessary.

2.   Easier Learning

When employees receive easily digestible content, they are more likely to retain what they’ve learned. Easy to understand bite-sized content is essential when dealing with a large workforce. Bite-sized content makes it easier for workers to learn independently, for example, when waiting for a patient at an appointment. With these peps, frontline workers are more likely to remember them later in real situations to save lives or avoid critical mistakes.

Think about how often you try to do something by yourself without consulting a guide because you think you already know how to do it—then forget entirely. Not good! Smaller chunks help cement training into our minds, so we don’t forget vital information when we really need it down the road and also is suitable for quick reference.

Also, worth noting is that some research has shown that the human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to 8 seconds today (according to Nielsen Norman Group). The massive drop in the average person’s attention span means most people have difficulty absorbing long stretches of text or video content all at once. So, developing a bite-sized communication strategy for your frontline workers is the way to go!

3.   Reduces Training Costs

Bite-sized content can reduce your training costs significantly by leveraging technology. With bite-sized content, you can quickly and easily capture what your frontline workers need in a format that’s easy to consume. Hence, it means they can learn at their own pace while eliminating the dependency on company trainers. Reducing dependence on company trainers reduces your training cost, saving you money in overall training expenses.

There is no need for onboarding or orientation with friendly and naturally suited bite-sized training videos. An introductory bite-sized overview video can get new hires up to speed in record time. Bite-sized video content is also a great way to ensure that employee training doesn’t fall by the wayside over time

 By using bite-sized content as an easy reference, your employees will keep up with their skills and stay proficient at their jobs long after hiring them. That kind of long-term return on investment makes using bite-sized content worth every penny you spend upfront!

4.   Improves Quality Assurance

When frontline workers get bite-sized professional information, they can easily understand what they’re doing wrong and make a fast and easy reference. As a result, it makes it easier for managers to identify quality assurance problems so they can stop them right away. Consequently, your company products will continue to meet the industry’s acceptable standards, which means improved customer satisfaction.

Therefore, your customers will continue to be happy with what you provide if your workers work efficiently to produce quality products and services. You’ll gain a reputation for high-quality products that meet industry standards, which is always a benefit when selling on competitive platforms like Amazon or through other channels.

5.   Improves Job Performance and Employees’ Morale

Training with bite-sized content allows frontline workers to plan efficient employee training and have more fun. With bite-sized, digestible content that is easy to understand and quick to read, your employees will quickly understand their roles concerning your company’s overall mission. When employees understand their mission more precisely, it helps improve job performance throughout your organization. It will also allow you better oversight into how things are going from day to day – or even hour by hour.

Studies show that it is easier for frontline workers to digest bite-sized content than traditional content. Consequently, they benefit not only in their capacity as employees but also in their personal lives. The better you communicate with your workers, even on a day-to-day basis, the happier they’ll be at work—and outside of work. They’ll ultimately view themselves as your biggest fan. They’re likely to help spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand. Plus, they feel empowered knowing how valuable they are to your business.

6.   Helps Improve Safety

Bite-sized content makes it easier for employees, especially frontline workers, to read through and internalize your training. Few things are more dangerous than an employee who doesn’t fully understand how a process works. Without bite-sized content, employees must either sift through reams of information on each new project or rely on other coworkers to explain every step with their interpretations.

Thus, traditional communication methods will create more room for errors and delayed responses. However, bite-sized content cuts out any guesswork, so you can rest assured that every worker is following procedures and safety protocols and executes quickly and flawlessly as they should be. Consequently, everyone stays safe!

Conclusion

If you’re looking for ways to improve your customer support, look no further than bite-sized content. It gives you a chance to connect with customers quickly, in a time-efficient manner. These tips should help you maximize your use of bite-sized content to better train and communicate with your frontline workers! You can contact MyBites to help you create bite-sized tutorials in bulk without breaking your budget!