Transferring assets or selling your business in Westlake Village, California - or anywhere for that matter — can be a real challenge.
According to the Exit Planning Institute’s Owner Readiness Survey, 75% of business owners want to exit within ten years, making it crucial to understand your business's true market value to receive a competitive offer. Having a solid advisory team becomes indispensable in winning in the market.
SB Valuations’ business valuations in Westlake Village ensure that your decisions are more informed, strategic, and tailored to maximize your business's sales potential. We specialize in M&A, partner exits, estate taxes, gifts, employee compensation, divorce, and other areas that need an appraisal of your business and/or assets.
Speak with SB Valuations today to learn more about how we can help you.
Why Choose SB Valuations for Your Westlake Village Business Sale?
Founded by James Lisi, SB Valuations started in the realm of business valuation at American ValueMetrics. Under the mentorship of seasoned investment banker Gerald Barney, James honed his skills by working on various detailed reports. Established in 2013, SB Valuations worked as a subcontractor to other valuation companies before striking out independently in 2020.
Over the years, James has contributed to well-known publications like The Value Examiner, Business Valuation Update, and Pacific Coast Business Times.
SB Valuations aims to keep things simple: we provide clear, well-supported valuations using the latest micro-economic methods to help you understand your business and assets better.
Litigation Valuations in Westlake Village
SB Valuations provides support in legal disputes where the dependability of business valuation is crucial.
Our detailed appraisals are essential in court, ensuring arguments for your business’s worth are included in the decision.
We focus on presenting a thorough and convincing valuation to aid in resolving disputes favorably.
Estate and Gift Planning for Westlake Village Residents
Fair market valuation is key to avoiding excessive taxes and ensuring compliance when transferring business interests or assets.
Our estate and gift appraisal services help Westlake Village families manage these transitions effectively and minimize tax liabilities.
Micro-economic techniques often produce lower valuations of minority interests than the statistical methods used by other companies.
409a Valuations for Westlake Village Companies
SB Valuations performs rigorous 409a valuations to ensure compliance with IRS regulations, crucial for companies in Westlake Village to offer stock options to their employees.
Our niche is in the very early stages where ‘current value’ appraisals provide the proper value over GAAP-style 409a reports.
Complex Valuation Needs for Businesses in Westlake Village
With a deep understanding of present value economics and broad experience, we can effectively appraise private company financial instruments like promissory notes, tenant-in-common interests, and complex equity capital structures.
This expertise is crucial when Westlake Village businesses face unique issues. Understanding the intricacies of owner rights for each of these securities ensures our valuations are both dependable and relevant.
Have a business or assets you’d like valuated? Speak with SB Valuations today.
Additional Valuation Insights:
Understanding the Value of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
When it comes to growing your business through mergers or acquisitions, understanding the true value of potential opportunities is crucial. SB Valuations offers expert analysis based on variables that matter to ensure you’re making informed business decisions that align with your strategic goals.
Partner Exit and Investor Valuations
Navigating the complexities of a partner exit requires a clear understanding of the business’s value to ensure a fair exit arrangement for all parties involved. James Lisi’s published work on the differentiators of investment value is particularly relevant here.
SB Valuations provides appraisals that analyze the relevant investor factors and the effect of the exit on both parties to help find an equitable buy-out or buy-in price.
Estate Tax Valuations, Gift Valuations, and Planning
Proper valuation is key in estate planning to ensure that taxes are minimized and the transfer of assets to heirs is done fairly and efficiently. SB Valuations specializes in providing fair market value valuations for these purposes.
Valuation for Divorce Proceedings
Divorce is a special form of partner exit that can be complicated. SB Valuations delivers objective assessments to ensure impartial division of the marital estate, providing valuations that ensure a fair outcome for both parties and advising on exit options that preserve business value.
Client Testimonials and Success Stories
"Valuations should be based on real cash flows and actual market transactions," says James Lisi. This approach ensures that valuations are realistic and cover the specific circumstances of each business.
One notable success story highlights the importance of expert valuations in legal disputes. "The IRS was challenging a $14 million tax discount. We defended the case with scientific evidence, and the IRS eventually dropped it," explains Lisi.
Another example of SB Valuations’ impact involved correcting valuation errors for a small company with an ESOP. "A small company had a puzzling valuation result that showed the company was worth less than its cash and inventory on hand. We separate the non-operating assets from the operating assets, which other appraisers had missed.
By solving these two problems separately and then integrating the results, we corrected the valuation. This approach ensures that the founders were no longer being unfairly diluted by their ESOP contributions," explains Lisi.
Contact SB Valuations
For those in Westlake Village and throughout California looking to understand the value of their business or its securities, SB Valuations is ready to assist.
Whether you are preparing for a sale, handling a transition, or navigating legal challenges, our team is equipped with the expertise and experience to provide clear, actionable insights.
Speak SB Valuations today to learn more about how we can help you achieve your goals.
Westlake Village Valuations Frequently Asked Questions
What is the importance of having a certified business appraiser evaluate my company?
A certified business appraiser brings a level of credibility and dependability that is important when evaluating an appraiser’s opinion of your company's worth. This is key for legal and tax compliance matters, divorce, or investor settlements where proper training and experience that need good results.
Certified reports are required for tax and government lending situations. Meeting professional standards, SB Valuations uses scientific method that determines value by cause-and-effect relationships while adhering to regulations.
How can SB Valuations assist with startup company valuations?
For startup companies in Westlake Village, valuation is crucial for attracting investors and supporting equity grants to employees.
Founders offering stock to employees need to consider whether a ‘standard’ 409a is right for their company. Founders have a strategic choice not to dilute their holdings with discounts and still meet IRS requirements.
The 409a report factories do not mention this option. This issue should be discussed with the appraiser as part of designing the project.
How can SB Valuations assist with ESOPs?
For ESOP companies in Westlake Village, SB Valuations offers relevant annual valuations for small companies. These reports balance the ESOP liability and company cash flows so that the effects of the ESOP on business value are neither omitted nor double-counted.
What does the process of a business valuation for sale involve?
The business valuation for a sale can be a simple set of calculations or an in-depth analysis of the company that examines market opportunity, growth rates, and margins.
The comprehensive course can include advanced modeling to provide an analysis of future expectations that can aid in maximizing value.
Can SB Valuations provide valuations for specialized sectors like medical practices or tech startups?
Yes, SB Valuations has extensive experience in various sectors including medical practice valuations and tech startups.
Valuations of professional practices in law, finance and healthcare are limited to two-person firms for very specific reasons.
Medical practices are valued based on cash flow, not RSVs.
Technology startups comprise the bulk of our early stage and 409a work.
What role do business valuation firms play in merger and acquisition transactions?
"Our M&A role is either to support an investment banker prior to listing the business for sale or to bolster a DIY owner who is at a disadvantage with an experienced potential buyer," says James Lisi.
SB Valuations performs critical assessments to determine the potential offering price of the business. Then we can assist in negotiating.
Our services provide an unbiased understanding of the value that facilitates smoother negotiations and post-sale integration.
Talk with our lead appraiser Jim at SB Valuations today to learn more about how we can help you.