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When a prospective buyer is trying to establish whether he or she will purchase a particular business for sale, there are many buy business elements to take into consideration. When prospects arise, quite apart from the question of suitability, location and longevity, the issue of real-world business valuation is front and center. The seller will present a series of financial documents and it is, of course, in their best interests to portray the business for sale in a shining light. As such, the issue of “add backs” is likely to represent one of the thorniest problems.

In most instances, add backs are included in an effort to present the business from a real world point of view. When compiling traditional accounting reports, it’s essential to adhere to a set of very rigid standards - there may also be additional footnotes to consider, and depending on your point of view, these can be either positive or negative. When you’re thinking about buying a business, it’s crucial that you carefully scrutinize each and every add back, as they can often make a significant difference in your final valuation figure.

When performing the process of due diligence, checking recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and reconciled bank accounts is usually a fairly straightforward task. Far more often than you might think however, the current owner will strive to draw your attention to points which may be “one-time” instances, or to extra income which might not actually appear anywhere in the books at all. You should be open to all suggestions of course but maintain a degree of skepticism at all times until you are able to validate the claims, or otherwise.

Don’t forget that for an item to be claimed as a “one off,” it must not have occurred during any of the previous years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

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.

Everyone needs to eat to live, and over time we’ve established a habit of making this process a social one. As such, a restaurant for sale is one of the most popular businesses to buy, and one which may represent an even more attractive purchase proposition if you have a particular taste for a certain type of food!

Perform due diligence carefully when looking to buy restaurant business, even though your intuition - and your stomach, might be telling you that it’s the right decision for you. This particular industry is extremely competitive, and there are an array of factors you’ll need to consider. Allocate a period of time, experts recommend four weeks, to observe the operation of the business. This should enable you to get a good feel and to smooth out any peaks or troughs before you make your final decision.

You have several key areas to investigate including the premises, the financials, the equipment, lease, the operations and the employees. Do not be afraid to bring in experts, including an accountant experienced in the food business to help you, but as you go through your observation period, use your general business sense and a good portion of common sense to observe how everything works, especially from a client point of view.

For your paper and number crunching chores, expect to review the tax returns, profit and loss statements, cash flow worksheets, inventory records, employee records, equipment agreements, maintenance schedules, all necessary licenses, health inspections certificates and a history and copy of the lease.

When reviewing the financial documents, it’s essential to keep in mind that the restaurant business has a large volume of cash sales. Surprisingly often, many business owners decide to siphon off some of this cash for themselves, not reporting it to save on taxes. In the long run this isn’t a good idea, as this money could have been applied toward a marketing budget or buying new business assets, and if siphoning is going on, it can be quite hard to prove income.

When you are inspecting the property, look at it from an overall perspective as well as in detail. Can it be adequately seen from nearby major roads, is signage appropriate, well-maintained and presentable? Are there any other major competitors and are they overbearing? What is your first impression when arriving in the parking lot? Take a look at external dumpsters and trash removal areas to make sure that these are as well-maintained as possible and are unobtrusive.

Moving inside, what is your first impression of the decor. Is the waiting area pleasant and contributory to the overall ambience? Is there adequate signage for bathrooms, emergency exits? Pay close attention to the bathrooms. They should be in perfect working order, comfortable and impeccably clean and well-maintained. In a restaurant, everything, repeat everything should be clean, presentable and in full working order.

Most of the equipment contained in a restaurant and specifically within its kitchen is subject to certification, inspection and permitting. Check to see that this is all up-to-date and timely. While every element of the equipment should be operated according to the letter of the law, you must also ensure that regular maintenance and cleaning schedules are top-notch. For major items and appliances, see whether contractor warranties are available and can be transferred to you.

Very often a lease can be a potential stumbling block when looking at a restaurant for sale. The landlord will want to ensure that the business is being operated as efficiently as possible and may be wary of transferring or issuing a new lease to someone who does not have much experience. Look for terminology within the lease stating that transfers will “not be unreasonably withheld,” and aim to ensure that you get at least as favorable terms during your tenancy. This would be a good time to assess the overall viability of the environment within which the business operates. If in a strip mall of some kind, are the anchor stores in good shape and do the majority of other businesses also appear sound? You do not want to see an anchor store disappear and the overall visitor level to the area decline.

When you analyze the operations of the business, you want to learn how the current owner operates and whether there are any immediate issues or challenges that you will have to take into account. Look closely at any “special arrangements” or unique selling points that involve a particular individual, a style or presentation of food. You want to be sure that these elements are transferable or will be present when you take over.

A restaurant will likely rise and fall on the strength of its employees. While you can expect a high turnover in any kind of restaurant, if you see some loyal staff and a good “team spirit” this can be a definite plus. Check to see how people are hired, the terms and conditions offered to them and exactly how they are paid.

While you should insist on an observation period, before you are involved in formal discussions with the seller why not kill two birds with one stone and visit the restaurant for a few nice dinners or lunches with other companions? You don’t have to show your hand at this stage and can get a really good feeling by observing how the staff come and go, the operation within the kitchen ideally and in general get an opinion of whether everything is orderly and well-structured during the busiest times.

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.

When looking to buy liquor store business, the process of due diligence goes way beyond just an assessment of the presented financials. 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 some decisions that you can make about buying a liquor store business before you immerse yourself fully in the 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 example you already know that financial records are incomplete for reasons given by the seller, or the condition of the store or its assets are not as you had hoped or expected, inventories are incomplete, inspections, certificates or licenses are compromised for one reason or another – all may be reasons for you to turn around and bid good day.

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 Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

There was a time when a reciprocal link was all that was required in order for your site to rank well. They were easy, find a site that promoted itself actively, add their link to your site, email them telling them that you had, then wait for them to add your link and there you were, ranking well, everybody happy.

All that has changed recently however as the value of reciprocal links has steadily been down graded by the major search engines. If you look at it from the point of view of the search engine, they are looking for pure links coming to your site.

If there is a link going both ways, the search engines conclude that these two sites have been in contact and made an agreement with the intention of improving their rankings in the search engines. This is now deemed unnatural (and rightly so really) by the search engines and these links are no longer worth very much at all.

Google in particular, once imagined an Internet where the owner of site A might find site B and be so impressed that he would add a link on site A pointing to site B. For example, imagine a Plumber and his family from Yorkshire takes a holiday in Dorset one summer. They stay at a lovely little family run hotel and make good friends with the owners. On their return home they add a link to the hotel onto their Plumbing website recommending anyone who ever finds themselves in Dorset to stay at the hotel.

Of course this is not how the search rankings developed because SEO experts began to appear and manipulated the algorithm. To start with reciprocal links worked well and were all round easy to get and set up, and easy to keep track of and manage.

Over time though, one way links have taken over and become far more powerful. Bearing in mind that you can only add a limited quantity of links in a given month, adding only reciprocal links will mean that it takes you over three times longer to achieve your desired rankings, if indeed you achieve them at all.

One way links are harder to establish initially, harder to manage as they are harder to track, but will achieve your rankings in the shortest time scale possible. Before long, possibly as early as the spring of 2010 reciprocal links will be downgraded even further, some speculation has them valued at zero, but I believe that to be too much as any business will have suppliers and partners who link to each other and shouldn’t be unduly penalised for this.

If you’ve spent your life wondering when things will improve, and have tried lots of different ways to be successful then I’d like to ask you to read a little story about personal branding, and what it means and the importance of using it to grow YOU, before you undertake any form of business.

This short article will most likely fall on many deaf ears - people who skip the article because they are too busy. If youve started to read this then the chances are you are struggling online. Don’t use the same old tactics. Read on to know more

I want to get you into an example - a short story to get your creative juices flowing. A man called John is trying to generate more traffic to his website which sells marketing products. This is a tough industry as many people regard messages as spam.

John does things right and sets a budget for $1000 a month to cover advertising and promotion. After 2 months however he has only made 4 sales, and lost almost $1800 - he is absolutely gutted and decides to stop, as he cannot justify losing $900 a month approximately.

Sick to death, John throws in the towel, and turns his back on internet marketing. He decides to go back to his day job, telling all his friends that internet marketing does not work, stay well away.

One of Johns friends Bill is similar to John. He too is optimistic and decides he wants a try. But instead of jumping in, Bill decides to spend time reading up on the best ways to do this. He learns that it is important to brand yourself first, i.e. get yourself known as an expert, or someone who can be of benefit to others, and become well liked. Bill uses his artistic talents to create free landing pages for internet marketers.

It doesn’t take long for people to realise that here is a great guy who offers something selflessly and genuinely. Soon thousands visit his site, and many of them signup to his free tips newsletter which tells them how to make the most of their splash pages. Those who sign up each get a free splash page by him - what a great trade off!

After 2 very hectic years Bill has created a newsletter list of 100,000 people - all of which have had a free splash page made for them, thanks to Bills secret software, but that didn’t matter - they were great splash pages. John however was still going to work and telling people that the internet did not work.

Bill eventually locates some really good products which will make his subscribers life so much easier. He tests them and finds that they are very good. Bill sends out an email to his list and to his surprise 400 people buy the product, netting Bill 400 x $27 = $10,800 - something he can do once a week, once a month or as often as he likes - not bad for a few minutes work eh? All this from doing something he loves to do.

It’s near impossible to earn $10,000 a wek from a regular job. This isnt taught in school. In fact, this is why I told you this story about Bill and John and the importance of personal branding. If you really want an incredible lifestyle then learn to brand yourself first.

There are a lot of people out there that want to make money online. Many people will start off with affiliate marketing, as it is the cheapest way, as you do not have to invest in a product to sell such as being a Ebay power seller.

Now you are searching some more and you are starting to get a grasp on how back links work, and how big of a factor they are when it comes to ranking in a search engine. Then you will try and decide what the easiest way to get back links is.

When it comes to getting legit links I have fount that article directory submissions is the easiest and most effective way. There are lots of different article directories that you can submit your articles to, and they will gladly give you a link back to your site for some quality content.

The great thing about article directories is that it will give you a couple of links pointing back to your website, and most article directories that are out there keep it at do follow. As some of them will also let you leave and anchor text so that you can get keyword authority for that chosen anchor, long tail keywords work great for these.

Besides getting the links and the traffic, you could also use an article directory to promote an affiliate product. You could write a review on it and point out all of the pros and cons of the product, increasing the chances of you making a sale.

There are a handful of article directories that are out there that have a tremendous amount of authority. Some of these are Article Dashboard, Go Articles, and Ezine Power Publisher, along with many others.

The most popular of those big directories would be Ezine Articles. The main reason is the quality of articles that they have there, and they review every submission manually before posting the article. It is also a great website to get outstanding information on almost any subject.

There are many resources out there to drive traffic to your website, article directories are just a piece of the SEO pie. Do not spam them and submit quality work, some links may take months to show up but they will, and you will be rewarded, the more you write the more traffic you can expect.

The first two brands, a unique series of ads using mobile technology and user-generated content. Los Angeles, 2006 July 10, CKE Restaurants, Inc. Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurant brand new “cross Burger” campaign to 34, men 18 to start the main target of protests. Companies to create Spacedog, in Los Angeles, an independent interactive marketing agencies and interactive agencies restaurant company records The dynamic, unique promotional campaign will use mobile technology to interact with the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr brands to drive consumers from store locations to the website leveraging user generated content in the promotion, a first for both brands.

The idea was for consumers to show evidence of a “burger slaying” through photos taken with their cell phones of themselves, their friends and even their pets! This requires the ingestion of one or Hardee’s or Carl lot of small tasty hamburger, while in a store or other places. Mobile phone to Carl’s Jr or Hardee’s, by email, or by uploading images from their digital cameras directly onto the site. Photos were selected daily and posted to there websites where consumers voted for their favorite. Once a month an overall winner was announced, who were crowned Burger Slayer of the Month and won free hamburgers for a month.

Stores to generate awareness for the sport, Hardee ’s and Carl’ s small shops show persistent organic pollutants in the form of sets of napkins machine, which will include submission of a detailed description of mobile web camera images. If you want to submit a digital photo to the promotion you can find the directions to do that on the site. Extending the online presence for Hardees and Carls Jr, there was also an extensive marketing campaign targeting social networking sites like MySpace, photo sharing networks like Flickr and specially created displayed banner ads running on Yahoo. Burger’s cross “in” the excitement built. In addition, individual regional marketing campaigns were created to drive awareness in cities nationwide.

Spacedog is an independent, full service, interactive marketing agency focused on creating unique and effective results driven campaigns for their clients in a variety of industries including entertainment, travel, retail, financial, high tech, and quick service restaurants. In 2005, Spacedog launched their entertainment division that focuses on developing branded entertainment properties for and with major brands that are based on original graphic novels the company creates with Top Cow Comics. 2006 was a busy year for Spacedog, which has worked on and even released some productions they did with studios and networks. Spacedog company with some well-known brands and entertainment companies contains but not limited to, Mazda, Citibank, Qantas Airways, Carl’s small and Hardee ’s restaurant, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Music Publishing Company, EarthLink company, Fox Sports, Westfield Shopping Center, also Interscope Record of the Company . The corporate office of Spacedog situated in LA, USA

Companies give out promotional items for many reasons. Creating an image, spreading a message, welcome new clients, thank current ones and impress potential clients are just a few. The hopes are that these items will increase their opportunities for new business. Promotional umbrellas are a unique item that many businesses overlook. Umbrellas give you the perfect opportunity to create something in your customers style.

Firstly, promotional umbrellas tend to be more useful then a pen or T-shirt. Many people only have on umbrella, if that, where as they may have enough pens or T-shirts to use a different on each day of the month. Therefore, your promotional umbrella will be more appreciated and used more frequently.

Secondly, umbrellas have the ability to give people a secure feeling whether being used in the rain, snow, or sun. By giving your clients an umbrella you are letting then know you are there to keep them safe. This creates a feeling of security towards your company and gives a loyal feeling to the brand. This same feeling can not come from any other promotional item.

With promotional umbrellas you can get your message out to a larger sized audience and distribute less items then you would be able to do with items such as pens or T-shirts. This is do to the larger size of the item. In the end your cost will be the same, since umbrellas tend to a little more expensive, but your profit from your marketing will be greater as you will have a larger viewing audience.

Since you have more of a canvas with promotional umbrellas you can get your message out to the public and still have room for other add-ons. You can choose your umbrella in your company color, place your logo large and visible, use bold text for your company information and message. These same things can not be said for items such as keyrings, pens, mousepads and others. Your company’s messages and logo will be very visible to everyone!

According to the promotional marketing gurus, promotional umbrellas should be well made and attractively designed. You cannot offer lean umbrellas to show that you care for your customers. This will do more harm than good. Promotional umbrellas, however, don’t have to be expensive. A number of promotional marketing consultants do offer umbrellas that are specially suited to promotional purposes. Depending on your target audience, budget, and promotional objectives, these companies would help you plan, strategize, design, and even distribute your promotional umbrellas. In fact, this is an advisable approach since these consultants do possess commendable experience and it is advisable that you utilize this experience rather than trying yourself.