Trusting them to services which are able to handle them, Internet based businesses have historically outsourced their own web page design needs. In fact, web design is tailor-made for outsourcing. Whatever its size, a great number of benefits are included when you choose to pursue outsourcing your web design work. These days, it’s perfectly clear to most small companies and businesses that online success is essential — and so is a strong web presence. You want to make the right impression on your target audience, and your final product will depend on the level of professionalism that you want to present. Websites produced by experts will generate good results every time, as individuals using the Internet users typically judge a website on its quality of design; a good website is the most important first step that you go through in order to put together a successful Internet based company.

One of the major advantages of outsourcing your web design work is that it saves you time and money, along with tons of hard work. When you’ve outsourced the work you need to get done, you’re able to relax, as the hard work is being done for you at a higher standard that you might have achieved by yourself. This should give you more time to work on other aspects of your business instead of spending hours trying to build a site. The outsourcing company will have the required competency to take care of everything for you, which means higher quality and enhanced level of productivity for your business. This could become a good long term investment for your business. Web design is an ongoing struggle and constantly changes due to the ever changing landscape of the technology platforms it is built upon. Anyone attempting to design their own site must be certain to continually update their skills and technical knowledge. Outsourcing your design work to a professional service can help in faster execution. The faster you complete your tasks, the faster you can make money and move on to the next client. In order to compete on the internet today, you have to really focus and avoid putting your time and energy on tasks that could be more efficiently outsourced. This can aid your customers as the outsider code seek out relevant information regarding your business.

You can find a web design company who can not only create but help you to look after, maintain and make any necessary alterations to your site as you go along. There are companies that take up outsourcing jobs only and are dedicated to this one aspect. Such companies maintain a high level of infrastructure and have well experienced web designers on hand, so they can provide you with services that are well beyond what you could have operating on your own. In conclusion, if you choose not to outsource, things will slow down and many times they don’t take off at all. If you don’t want your web design working to be left hanging, then just see it as a viable investment and go for it.

Some enterprising individuals are put off by the thought of buying an existing business for sale, as they see it as a veritable leap into the dark. If they have never been involved in such a transaction before, it can seem to be very alien. Most of us are used to engaging in transactions where we buy a tangible product like vehicles or houses and in these cases “what we see is what we get.” To value a business correctly, you need to look at a number of different intangibles as well as assets that need to be inspected and you also need to consider goodwill in many situations. In a service related business, goodwill and a maintainable client list can be critical elements, but the process of due diligence involves the revelation and exploration of numerous areas and documents.

It’s important to remember that there are two distinct and different viewpoints. The seller will have a clear indication of the worth that he or she places on the business. Expect to see a certain amount of natural enthusiasm, as a lot of hard work and dedication has undoubtedly been put into the business by the outgoing seller. While you should always maintain an element of respect for the sellers’ point of view, you must look at all documentation and evidence in the hard light of day and understand that it is up to you to determine if you should buy business interests according to the specific value you set.

After you decide you need to move forward and you have really determined whether you want to buy a business of interest, get ready for a very lengthy process. During the entire process you must maintain a level of common sense and good humor and be prepared to cultivate a strong level of communication with the seller.

This is where expert advisers will come into their own and if you have no real experience with this kind of business, its related market or niche, utilize proven resources and get as much help as you can. This is not to say that you will simply hand off all the work to these advisers, barely looking at the documentation presented to you, as the decision-making must in the end be made by you and you alone. The financial documents and all of the paperwork must be reviewed by you first to be sure that you have a great feeling initially before you hand them over for further processing by your experts.

A red flag will be raised if some of the financial documents are incomplete, information is missing, or they are poorly balanced or even not reconciled. Accounting traditions and precedents must be maintained at all times. Don’t be surprised if the seller will ask you to sign a non-compete and/or non-disclosure document before any financials are made available to you, because these financials are nevertheless the rock upon which the entire business is set.

Each and every operation is different in its own right and no two businesses are the same. There are so many different events that can come to bear to create such a variety of external influences and situations at any time. Expect to uncover some unusual facts and figures or surprises and remember that, while industry benchmarks are interesting, a lot of the information you discover here will be a function of real-world activities.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

If you need to setup a successful enterprise around the World wide web, Google’s Pay per click and ppc may be really valuable tools. For any online enterprise, its life supply is its targeted visitors that attracts possibly buyers who may take interest inside your organization. Several specialists believe that the Pay per click system from Search engines may be the most trustworthy supply to have targeted traffic to your web site. ppc on the other hand gives you admittance to large quality digital goods that you could sell for your readers. Unfortunately, as with something in enterprise, you have to recognize how these programs work so you won’t go more than your finances and decrease your profit margin. You ought to get around operating with Pay per click and ppc by deriving income with no losing your shirt. Although Search engines Pay per click is definitely an really effective means of promoting your goods, you do not desire to leap around the bandwagon with no very first investing some time to recognize how to utilize it smartly to create steady, online cash flow. This post will go more than ways that you just could market ppc goods via Pay per click.

The number one piece of affiliate pilot that you need to pay care to when using Adwords with ppc is to avoid immediately going after keywords that generate a large amount of traffic for the marketplace you’ve chosen. Once your Search engines Pay per click campain is up and running, you’ll very first need to deactivate the content material network application. This specific feature allows Search engines to display your Pay per click ads on partner web sites such as MySpace, Squidoo and Ezinearticles. The reason you need to turn off the content material network feature is simply because the visitors that you get from it is a smaller amount targeted when you compare towards the ads that appear within the research final results. For example, if your landing page is particularly made to collect make contact with information (like e-mail addresses) from your readers, the ones who do occur for your web site in the content material network will possibly not subscribe as very easily as those that occur in from research final results. So it just can make sense to save your funds and turn off the content material network. You can explore the content material network at a later date when you use a big testing finances for the promoting. Until then, stick towards the research ads.

With ppc your accomplishment will depend around the distinction in between you and everybody else. The items you sell, too because the way you market them, ought to be various from everybody else. You cannot do what everybody else is doing and assume to succeed. Even even though the item that everybody else is promoting may be well-known and these people are producing funds off of it does not necessarily mean you need to, as well. You need to produce your individual advertising strategy. Be mindful the amount of advertisers who presently use Pay per click for their own advertising purposes is tremendous. That’s why that it is important to shell out attention and go carefully so you do not locate yourself broke within the very first two weeks.

If you have not engaged in something like this before, buying business assets can be quite a daunting prospect. In many respects, starting your own operation from scratch can be more difficult, but understand that here, you are taking on the liabilities of somebody who you do not know, essentially! You can certainly reveal many of the inner workings of the business for sale and consult numerous documents to help you understand what it is all about, but you must be able to read between the lines, and this is exactly why you need a due diligence checklist.

While a majority of business owners are enthusiastic and diligent people, have put a great deal of effort into their creation and would love nothing more than for the business to be continued and nurtured by a careful owner, you can never assume that this is the case. Please don’t think that this means you have to assume the worst in all cases, but it does unfortunately mean that you cannot take any statement at face value and you must look for proof in all cases to back up claims made. Always ensure that you employ the services of expert analysts as required when you buy a business, including accountants, financiers and business experts.

Here, your primary purpose is to set a value. Undoubtedly, each of the parties – the buyer and seller, will have a different interpretation of the value of the business. The deal is only consummated when both parties are happy, but remember that it is up to you to determine the specifics under which you are willing to do the deal.

If you buy a business, a number of steps have to be taken as you go through your due diligence checklist and as you proceed, all the inner workings of the business will be revealed to you. Never rely on industry benchmarks, even though they may be useful for your information gathering purposes. The most recent financial documents are of the greatest importance and they should never be glossed over even though you have very many documents to check through. Never be tempted to gloss over some of the less palatable financial figures, if a specific business asset appears to be of particular interest to you.

When you’re looking at the value of a business for sale, some of the more important factors include the scale and the level of services available, the potential for business expansion, the age of the organization and the reputational impact in the marketplace. Get a good impression of the competition in the industry and in the local area and understand that location may be the most important asset of all. You may be considering purchasing an Internet-based business or one that does not have a “bricks and mortar” location. While the physical location in this case may be of no consequence, make sure that you understand the importance of conducting a thorough “due diligence” process, come what may.

Reveal as much as you can as you work through this process and understand how important your due diligence checklist really is. If part of your due diligence process involves the analysis of daily operations, staff behaviour, client interaction and so on, this will invariably take many days if not weeks. As such, you should never be overly anxious to go ahead to close a deal and should be prepared, rather, for the lengthy process you are likely to endure.

Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream to buy a business.

Maybe for the first time, the pharmaceutical company can no longer depend on the phrase “bigger is better,” as it once was the case that the more people who heard the message, the greater the return. At one time, pharmaceutical companies used to look at each other and judge effectiveness based on how big the workforce was, as more volume would undoubtedly lead to enhanced revenue and a more than fruitful rate of return at the bottom line. However, in many respects this approach has led to saturation in the market, even as the market itself changes its characteristics. Today, much more emphasis must be placed on marketability and the promotion of niche products, with an accompanying rise in demand for specific training, rather than the use of a ‘broad paintbrush’ to accomplish everything. Sales force effectiveness is coming under scrutiny like never before, as it is realised that an oversized sales force could not only be neutralising, it could be detrimental to the success of the company.

These days, pharmaceutical sales training falls into two definite categories — education relating to the product itself and technical training in the area of sales and marketing technique, with the emphasis on the latest cutting-edge approaches. While the salesperson must always be focused on “winning,” it is not acceptable to approach the art of landing a sales contract at any cost. Rather, a new contract value is also reliant on its position in terms of logistical benefit and strategy, quite apart from financial measurements. It’s quite possible that a profitable sale, when viewed narrowly, could be far from as beneficial when all the other factors are taken into consideration.

These days there is not so much difference between success and failure, as margins are so thin and therefore sales force effectiveness is a highly important metric. Experienced consultants should be engaged to help in this facet of pharmaceutical sales training, to increase productivity, cut expenditure and boost morale among the sales force. Motivation is a very delicate subject and is far from just the provision of relevant financial bonuses for the salesperson. Indeed, sometimes financial compensation is not a primary driver and the organisation must be able to determine what really pushes each individual on the sales force. More often than not, a goal must not be infinitely achievable, or the sales person could be subconsciously held back as progress is made.

Sales force effectiveness can have a high impact on not only volume, but thin margins and high costs, so individual performance can have a ‘knock on’ effect in other areas. An organisation can start by assessing its current situation, looking at the metrics used to determine success or otherwise and how these very metrics may, by themselves, be contributory to the problem. Correct sizing of the sales force is so important, with territorial allocation and parameters such as “share of voice” optimised. How many sales calls does the salesperson make on any given day and is an inordinate amount of time spent travelling or on other non-productive activities?

Every moment that a salesperson spends with the client, whether detailing or otherwise, should be optimised as part of a revised approach to key account management training.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.

There’s a great deal on the line, as it is estimated that $25 billion per year is spent on marketing pharmaceutical products to healthcare professionals. Understandably, a substantial amount of interest has arisen in the methodology used and the tactics employed by pharmaceutical companies as they deploy their sales organisations to contact and influence professionals. Indeed, some advocate that the industry should be more tightly regulated and the U.S. Congress has been strongly urged to take an in depth look at how business is conducted in this arena. This just goes to underline the professional and highly focused approach that the pharmaceutical company must take as it seeks to interact with the very people who are responsible for buying its products in sufficient numbers to ensure the long term success of its organisation.

There are a number of countries around the world that have actively regulated how pharmaceutical companies can interact with professionals and introduced legislation accordingly. For example in Australia, codes of conduct have been established, with ethical marketing standards implemented and all member organisations must comply with the clearly laid out requirements or face legal action.

Pharmaceutical sales executives spend a large proportion of their time “detailing,” which refers to the act of visiting professionals and explaining the concept of the product, the reach, suggested markets, dosage, availability, side effects and other general industry news. Their communication skills must be absolutely excellent and sales executives must be able to systematically break down barriers that may have been built up over years of suspicion. Having said that, a sales executives is pivotal in bringing some vital information to the professional and supplementing the level of education. The pharmaceutical company must pay a great deal of attention to these methods of marketing.

If additional new regulations or restrictions develop in the near future, this would put even more emphasis on the need for effective marketing by the organisation. A company should engage pharmaceutical consulting firms due to the fact that they have direct experience and can as such help to train and educate the sales force so that they do not stumble at a vital time, make mistakes or negatively interact with professionals and spoil any potential gains.

It may be necessary to disclose all types of interaction, any hospitality provided or suggested, any gifts or assistance given and the very nature of the education disseminated. Not only will it be necessary for the sales executive to be highly educated in the product itself, fully understanding of restrictions and implications, but the executive must also be fully able to market to their highest ability.

The majority of pharmaceutical consultants dedicate a lot of their time to providing the correct balance between product awareness and marketing and to training methods as well. Time management is an essential skill required and staff must be trained to make best use of it, just as traditional marketing skills must be a point of focus and any latest developments or new legal requirements included. Company chiefs should outsource these methods to pharma consulting, enabling them to focus on other areas. With ineffective marketing, reputations can be compromised and there can be other implications, including problems with regulations and authorities; consultants must steer the organisation carefully.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.

So much is at stake, that senior management should really focus on the organisation of the company’s sales force, being fully aware of its effectiveness and be ready to make changes whenever necessary to maximise performance; it’s not acceptable to take a back-seat approach to this type of organisation any more, if a company is to survive at all. With the typical cost of a sales call estimated to be anywhere in the region of about $400 or more, a lot is at stake if the sales executive is not being as efficient as possible.

A good sales executive must be well trained when it comes to the intricacies of sales closure, should have high class communication skills, be a people person and self-starter, but if poor methodology is used by the pharmaceutical company employer, all these skills can be put to waste. Look at what’s at stake – poor deployment could mean the difference between merely surviving or enjoying the many benefits of the company’s ongoing endeavours.

By leveraging existing assets, a pharmaceutical company can reveal significant potential improvements, “across the board.” It’s amazing how small improvements in significant areas can result in big profit gains. To the untrained eye, the sales force may appear to be effective, but highly skilled pharmaceutical consultants will be able to see how inefficient they really are and can advise the organisation in all the various areas necessary for improvement, helping it to move forward.

There are many different fundamental aspects to sales force effectiveness. This requires a focus on optimisation – of the workforce, of individual efforts, of sales territories, altogether, as one whole. A pharmaceutical consulting firm knows through experience how important it is to optimise, drawing on experience gained in business over all the years, through case studies and by an ongoing review of policies, procedures and advancements. No longer is sales force optimisation an exercise to be conducted with pen and paper, but rather digital products and software solutions should be engaged with potentially powerful results. While plans are being incorporated, internal intelligence should be brought in and everything incorporated prior to the actual launch.

Looking back, workload allocation data from previous seasons and historical performance charts can help to reveal the optimum size of the sales force. This should be engaged with market conditions, both current and projected and also fine-tuned according to the company’s product mix and plans for expansion.

Generally, pharma consulting covers many different facets and, of particular interest to the company, should help to reveal the best time management practices for the freshly optimised sales force. Schedules must be optimised as keenly as possible and each individual within the sales force should be trained to ensure that they take advantage of every block of time available, while supervisory staff are able to track, compare and advise accordingly. After eliminating potential overlaps and unbalanced workloads, the focused sales team can be ready to get out and work, using their new-found skill set and internally produced intelligence to overcome the competition. The cost of a sales call is only going up, so it only makes sense to rein in these costs as much as possible.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.

Some people would say that it can be very difficult to determine the ideal amount of time needed to close a sale, due to so many external influences, but a sales executive should be primed to move the prospect on to the next stage in any effective procedure. This may not necessarily signify a sale, but there must be either a “yes” or a “no,” and never a “maybe.” Everyone’s time is very valuable and important in these situations, and the executive should be trained to note the subtle responses, language and tone from the prospect, so that he or she knows whether it’s time to move on to prospects who have better potential, or not. Effective implementation requires the sales executive to pay particular attention to time management and this extends to the time actually spent face-to-face, as well. Many advocate that the time spent with a potential prospect face-to-face is the most valuable of any sales executive’s day, requiring that all “non effective” time spent on administration and other issues be contained, but remember that not all of the prospect’s time can bring a “result.”

Outdated sales tactics have no place in the modern healthcare and pharmaceutical arena. So much is at stake here, as the professional healthcare provider needs to cut to the chase and be in possession of all the appropriate facts. Sales people who are at the top of the game realise that they need to build customer relationships first and foremost and always over deliver, rather than trying to focus on closing sales according to textbook concepts or the analysis of a prospect’s personality. It’s important to get to know the specific worries and needs of the customer and to use experience and ability to devise a way to assuage the client’s issues. It takes a long time to build up the trust and rapport with a client, and it can be easily removed. Other representatives of other organisations may also be vying for the interests of a particular client and there is much to be said for open, honest and frank relationships rather than the implementation of spin tactics.

The ultimate objective of a sales executive is of course to close a sale, but all the background work must be completed carefully involving an investigation of how a company could help a professional, rather than pitching a product. Always ask the right questions and spend as much time as necessary considering what these questions should be. Get the professional to open up and provide information upon which to base the next pertinent question, and through a process of problem solving such as this, the company will be many steps closer to that important sale and to improving the effective implementation ratio.

At present, pharmaceutical consultants understand how important the implementation ratio is and how much the parent company invests in the cost of its sales team. Generally, pharmaceutical consulting firms can help to elevate these ratios by taking time to train the sales force in the dedicated and specific techniques required to succeed. As a rule, pharma consulting aims to bring out the best potential and allows the company’s senior people to focus on product development and other essential areas.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.

If you’re in the market to buy liquor store business, keep in mind that the process of due diligence goes far beyond simply an assessment of the presented financial documentation. You need to be able to access all the files and records, review information and research personnel as you review what you’re being told. It is recommended that you allocate at least four weeks for this process and do not be tempted to rush to judgement. There are a surprising number of issues which may only become apparent over a span of time, so always keep this in mind and proceed cautiously.

There are several points that you can give your attention to with regard to buying a liquor store business before you actually decide to immerse yourself completely in your due diligence process. While you’re likely going to have to do a great deal of number crunching and leg work as you press on ahead, is there anything at this point which you have come to understand about the industry, about this business in particular, its owners or its location so far that has given you pause, causing you to second guess yourself? If for instance, you’ve already seen that the financial documents are incomplete for reasons stated by the seller, or the general condition of the store or its assets aren’t to the standard you had been led to believe, inventories are not complete, certificates, inspections or licenses are compromised for whatever reason – all are very good reasons for you to move on and start looking for a better investment elsewhere.

For a process of due diligence to be complete, you will need to concentrate on seven different areas:

1. The Premises.

We’ve already covered the crucial importance of allocating not less than four weeks to this endeavour, and you should reach an agreement with the seller for this set period of time so that you can personally observe the day-to-day operations of the business. First of all, you’re going to need to assess the inside and outside of the place of business and figure out a rough estimate of what you might need to pay out to replace, repair or upgrade. Remember that the attitude of the staff is very important in the retail business and you should immediately assess how the existing staff interact with clients. Are they generally friendly, attentive, and prompt as well? Personal issues or conversations should not be apparent. Ask yourself whether the store looks good, has a good ambience, appears fresh and clean, has well-maintained restrooms and break areas and is generally spick and span.

You must also ensure that you are happy with the general location of the business, the surrounding stores, the type of people who frequent the area, the accessibility and especially beware of any pending major road construction in the area as this often has a significant bearing.

2. The Financials.

As a minimum, you will need to review the profit and loss statements, the balance sheets and tax returns. You would do well to employ the services of an accountant who is experienced in the liquor business to help you here. Look at all the supplier invoices and reconcile them to revenues. This may be a time intensive process but you will be able to determine your margins this way. Be very aware of any transactions that involve cash, especially if it involves your suppliers. You will need to get written confirmation from the suppliers of their ongoing terms.

Remember some of these industry benchmarks:

• gross margin should be between 24 and 28%.

• rent should be 7% of revenue maximum.

• product mix should be up to 70% liquor or up to 40% wine.

• labor should represent 5 to 7% of revenue.

• net profit should be 8 to 12% of revenue.

• inventory should be turned over between eight and 10 times per year.

3. The Equipment.

All equipment and furnishings should be in adequate working order and not in immediate need of repair or replacement. As such you should review all the maintenance and service records and look for yourself to see if all refrigeration cases are clean and well-maintained and all other equipment is well looked after.

4. Vendor Agreements.

Your wholesalers and suppliers are absolutely essential when you purchase liquor store business assets and you must get to know them well during your due diligence. Can arrangements be transferred to you or will you have to make new ones? You do not have to be prepared to settle with the existing suppliers or vendors and you should really investigate as many options or opportunities as you can. You may, for example, see better terms elsewhere and this knowledge will be great ammunition when you come to negotiations and peace of mind.

5. Lease Contracts.

Always be sure the lease is transferable or that there are no obstacles ahead of you. You must be able to assume or acquire a long-term lease before proceeding.

6. Operations.

It is likely that you will need a number of licenses and this should be a particular area of concern when it comes to a liquor license. Sometimes these may not be assigned or transferred or other onerous terms may be set by jurisdictions.

Go through the daily procedures from opening time to closing time; who has access to keys and alarm settings? Does the business have a procedure for emergencies of any kind? Ask the seller to provide you with an optimal inventory level. Ensure that you review all insurance certificates and be adequately covered for all eventualities. You will need to talk with credit card processors and merchant banks and be prepared to move to access better rates if necessary.

7. The Employees.

As this can be a significant cost and liability area, be focused here. Check each member’s compensation, especially if there’s any possibility of cash being paid “under the table.” If you see that there is a high turnover of employees, ask yourself why. Is there a procedure in place for training? While the seller will often be wary about letting his employees know that the sale is in process, you nevertheless need to analyze each employee individually, assess their loyalty and competence and adjust your plans accordingly. Understand that certain procedures may be quite traditional to them and you should ask yourself how you feel they will react if you need to make significant changes. If one or more employees are absolutely critical to your success, you will need to meet with them prior to consummating a contract.

When you find a liquor store for sale, if you conduct your due diligence correctly you will have the opportunity to see exactly how the business ticks, and you won’t be in for any surprises when you take over.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

The actual process of valuing a gas station business can be quite tricky at times. Quite apart from the question of how you approach the actual valuation itself, you have many variables to take into account including principally whether the property is leased or owned and whether it is owned or part of a franchise agreement with a major oil company, for example. Above all else, remember to conduct a proper process of due diligence and pay particular attention to financials when trying to arrive at a good value proposition.

As someone who is looking to buy gas station business, you need to be adequately prepared to make certain decisions yourself, some of which will even need to be based on assumptions, while remembering to never rely on the information provided by the seller alone. When all is said and done, it’s up to you to determine what the business is actually worth to you personally, as in most cases, the amount the business owner believes the gas station is worth rarely has anything to do with its real-world value.

In a traditional sense, there are usually two principal ways of looking at gas station convenience store valuation, and these are generally asset-based, where the income-producing assets are valued and totaled individually to reach the buy business price, or cash flow based, which is by far the most popular. In this particular instance, the overall profit is adjusted in relation to specific expenses, multiplied and then used to reach a price. The multiple is essentially the premium placed on the business and can be anything from one, up to five times this figure.

Before you can arrive at a value that you are happy with, you need to have certain fundamental questions answered. If the business occupies rented property you must engage with the landlord. Many landlords are not interested in issuing a new lease unless they can be sure that the incoming person has experience running this particular type of business. However, even though they may have concerns about a potential new tenant, they are almost always willing to negotiate, as the idea of seeing their property sitting around empty is quite hard to accept!

As an owner of a gas station and convenience store you will have many different suppliers and vendors, some of which are absolutely critical to the ongoing success of the business. Never assume anything and make sure that you can enjoy an ongoing good relationship and great trading terms with these entities.

When it comes to cash sales, if the seller cannot prove it then you cannot include it as part of your value assessment. Some gas station owners will pride themselves on the amount of cash sales and put this to you as almost something magical. Remember that they have benefited from not paying taxes on this income, almost always cannot prove that it exists and cannot expect to therefore earn a premium from it.

Most often you will want to consider using the total owner benefit as a base to create a valuation for the business. This is defined as the net income of the business added to the owner salary, any perks, depreciation and interest less any amount that you might have to put aside for capital projects assessed. With regard to average business valuation, gas station or convenience stores that are full service will often command 2 to 3 times whatever the owner benefit figure it is. If it is a smaller establishment and self service, 1 to 2 times. Consider the volume of trade versus the amount of hours that you will have to put in. A 24-hour, seven-day a week establishment takes a lot of management and oversight.

While business financials and owner benefit multiples are primary to your decision-making process, remember to consider a host of other variables:

• During the process of observation, use a period when you actually count the number of patrons coming in and out of the station to enable you to come up with a good average for traffic.

• Remember that you should aim for between 25 and 33% return on your cash investment when purchasing a business such as this, although if you are going to be an absentee owner you should be prepared to accept a lower return.

• Watch out if the owner appears to be working excessive hours or is reliant on a number of his family members to help him staff the operation. Pay attention to employee records and costs and ask yourself whether you are prepared to be as hands-on as he appears to be.

• Consult with local authorities to see if there are any major road construction projects planned. Sometimes these are inevitable but can have major disruptive forces.

To really focus the attention of the seller as you establish a value for the gas station for sale, why not ask him or her to engage in an “earn-out” scenario, where a portion of the sale price is returned to them over a period of time subject to certain conditions. This will ensure that you have their full attention during the disclosure phase!

Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream to buy a business.