The shareholders in a company determine the direction a business takes in its endeavors. They either vote the business in or out of a situation, contract or decision. Sometimes, however, shareholders may disagree on a major aspect of the firm, leading to a case of dissenting shareholders. At other times, those who own minority shares may feel that the decisions being made by those who own controlling interest may be in poor judgment, fraudulent or damaging to the business. These minority shareholders could file to leave the partnership or dissolve the enterprise because of their beliefs. In such a case, it would be necessary to sell the shares of the party in contention and recompense them. Selling of shares as a result of a shareholder dispute is not as easy as it sounds, however. There are issues surrounding the valuation of these blocks which makes determining their worth harder than the customary business valuation.

It is important to know the true value of your business at any given moment in your entrepreneurial career, but more so when you want to take your company public or sell out to a competitor. Knowing what your firm is worth could help you determine what a fair offer for your company is, or what severance package would be suitable to give a partner who is thinking about leaving your firm. As a business person, you should understand that there is no one way to determine the value of an enterprise. One person would look at the income of his firm and base his valuation on that. The only drawback to this method is that it does not take into account the trend of the future earnings of the company and is therefore rarely a true reflection of the current market value of the enterprise. You could alternatively choose to assess the market in which your product operates to determine what your firm is worth. Unfortunately, with this method, you would leave out the other factors that determine the success of your firm. Using your company’s assets as a measure of value would also be inaccurate as it wouldn’t take into account current and future liabilities. For an accurate depiction of what price tag to assign your company, you should try getting a business valuation from a CPA, accredited valuation specialist or investment banker. Here is how a business valuation can help you to better understand the worth of your enterprise.

At one point or the other, an entrepreneur may find himself in need of a business valuation. Valuations are the estimates of a business’ worth as assessed and reported by a professional. Business owners typically get valuations for their enterprises when a partner leaves the firm, or when they want to sell their companies or take them public. As with all reports in the business world, this one takes time to conduct and report accurately. However, not all valuations take the same amount to compile. Some businesses may wait longer to get an estimate of how much they’re worth than others after engaging a professional firm. Here we look at why this is.

One of the facts that remains unchanged about the business world is that everything is ephemeral. There comes a time in a business person’s life when you want to retire from a business, or to simply leave it whether for financial or personal reasons. This is usually hard to do particularly when you want to leave a legacy to your family. In such a case, transferring interest is usually a good way to leave your loved ones a stable and secure income source. Interest refers to the percentage of stake you have in an LLC. Here are three steps you should follow when you want to transfer your share of ownership of a firm to your family members.